Abstract
This paper reports on a Japanese medical class we developed and conducted for international students in cooperation with faculty members teaching regular medical subjects. No previous studies have been carried out regarding Japanese language education for medical students at the intermediate level. Therefore, before planning our medical Japanese lessons, we conducted a survey among the faculty members in charge of teaching regular medical subjects regarding the skills required for students in a medical school. The survey results indicate that three skills (i.e., listening, speaking, and reading) are essential, and undergirding these skills is the acquisition of medical terminology. In line with these results, we planned the Japanese medical class in such a manner that students can build their medical vocabulary through listening, speaking, and reading activities. The core activity is the oral presentation, which enables students to discuss certain medical topics using knowledge learned in English. The class also comprises other activities, such as reading passages from medical books and composing short sentences about diseases. We continued the class for approximately one year and improved contents based on the results obtained from class evaluations carried out each semester. We conclude by presenting three tasks which need to be addressed: evaluating the assessment methods, re-examining the items to be studied and their order of presentation, and implementing an interview for international students at the end of the course.
