抄録
The use of English as a medium of instruction in higher education is a global trend of internationalization. English has become one of the key drivers of student mobility in higher education market in Asian countries. As a lingua franca in education and international communication, English has been adopted by various kinds of transnational programs and regional collaborative programs in the Asian region. Japanese higher education has also embedded English language into its education policy of
internationalization with 3 different but related rationales: to raise the global competence of Japanese universities, to foster Japanese students to become ‘global citizens’ with global competence and to attract qualified international students into Japanese campus.
The objectives of this article are to articulate the rationales and current situation of introduction of English Medium Instruction Degree Programs (EMIDP) in Japanese higher education and proposed its contents models. The author analyzes the Japanese national policy of internationalization of higher education which intertwined which international student policy and the introduction of English Medium Instruction (EMI) with reviewing bench marking policies from the 1980s. In 2008, the Japanese government proposed a plan to accommodate 300,000 international students by 2020 and the “Global 30 project” which established new EMIDPs at 13 leading universities in Japan. Other than these newly established ones, this research examined EMIDPs in all Japanese universities through 2 different EMIDP lists by MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) and JASSO (Japan Student Services Organization). With examining these existing lists, this research found that there is no clear and shared definition of an EMIDP in Japan, so that we witnessed different kinds of EMIDPs regarding Japanese language requirement and enrollment of international students.
Secondly, through internet-based research on EMIDPs at Japanese universities with focusing on student demography and its language requirement, analysis will be done through examining demography between public and private universities, characteristics and visions of EMIDPs. This research reveals that there are more EMIDPs at the graduate school level than undergraduate level, and most of the existing undergraduate programs are at private universities and contains liberal arts curriculum. It also reveals that there are more EMIDPs in the science and technology field at public universities and more in social science and humanities than in other subjects at private universities.
Furthermore, the author categorized all EMIDPs into 3 models: “studying abroad at home” model, “mutual interaction ” model and “studying abroad in English speaking Asia” model. Each model accommodates different student bodies, curriculums and organizational structures. Its characteristics and issues are also explained according to these 3 models.
When discussing the purpose and development of EMIDPs, a quantitative approach should not be the focus, but rather the qualitative dimension of EMIDPs. It also needs international-student-oriented promotion of EMIDPs such as providing a list on the internet with proper contents which match with interests and needs of international students. The rationales and constitution of international students and Japanese students should also be discussed and considered as an important issue for future development of EMIDPs in Japan.