Abstract
This study is a report on an approach to teaching engineering and technical Japanese language in a twinning program conducted between a Japanese university and a Vietnamese university. Since 2008, language classes have been conducted in a program led by a native Vietnamese engineering teacher (VT) with no experience in Japanese language education, and supported by native Japanese language teachers with no engineering background. At the end of the program, students and teachers were asked about the course using questionnaires or interviews. This study revealed the following: 1)The difficulty of the classes was unrelated to students' interest in the class, 2)According to the VT, heavy utilization of diagrams and pictures alone did not improve students' understanding of the subject material, 3)The supplementary use of Vietnamese technical terminology by the VT increased the students' learning effectiveness, 4)This method was useful for both the learning of Japanese language as well as increasing the students' scientific knowledge. This may represent a novel method of technical Japanese language education where engineering teachers who are native speakers of the same language as the students play a central role and are supported by Japanese native speakers.
