Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) in a Japanese Culture Course

Toward the Development of Interculturally Effective Human Resources

Abstract

In response to the trend of globalization in recent years, which has seen an increasing number of students seeking employment overseas, San Jose State University has been implementing a Japanese culture course which incorporates a new educational approach called Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) , in which students internationally collaborate to learn Japanese culture using an online connection between two classrooms in the United States and Japan for 70 minutes per week. First, this paper introduces the new approach to teaching and learning with COIL, and then explains the theoretical frameworks to which we referred in formulating the course contents and class activities: the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (Benette 2004) , a profile study of interculturally effective persons (Vulpe et al. 2001), and critical thinking (Willingham 2007). Finally, this paper reports on the collaborative class activities and research projects we have done to foster in our students an awareness of cultural differences, the habit of critical thinking, the development of a relative point of view and a change in worldview.