As attention has been drawn to the fact that there is a lack of future engineers in Japan who will support Japan’s globalization, focus has been turned to overseas internships for science and technology majors to improve the situation. In this case study, 11 research participants were asked to take interviews about their overseas internship experiences. The collected data were analyzed by utilizing M-GTA (Modified Grounded Theory Approach). The results show how experiences in overseas internships influence Japanese students majoring in science and technology in terms of selecting a career path, sustaining a willingness to work abroad, and improving motivation to use and study English. It is concluded that the research participants’ experiences in overseas internships will broaden their views on global human resources by learning the strength of Japanese companies and adapting to cultural and religious diversity at their workplaces. What they learned had a positive influence on their career path and willingness to work abroad, and also raised their self-efficacy. With regard to their motivation to use and study English, some of the students were reluctant to study English harder after their overseas internships, although they reported that their anxiety to use English decreased.

Through a review of previous research and comparative study between Japan and the United States, this paper aims to clarify the situation regarding required global competency in engineering. It became evident that the factors related to competency are initially defined in terms of “knowledge” and “skills”; however, those factors later expand to include “attitudes” and “identity.” Multimodal assessment appeared to be an effective means for evaluating multifaceted competency. The results of company surveys in the two countries showed that American engineers tend to emphasize technical skills; among Japanese engineers, factors related to “attitudes” with respect to global competency were also highly valued. In light of our findings, it would be beneficial to conduct further research into the means of developing and evaluating global competency in the field of engineering education.

Japanese university students studying abroad are frequently asked questions about their home country, but a survey conducted on a group of semester study abroad returnees1) suggests that they may not be adequately prepared to answer these questions. Because university students who fail to answer basic questions about their own country would be put in an embarrassing situation and their contribution to disseminating information about Japan to people abroad would be diminished, the author argues that a study abroad preparation program should include a review of their knowledge about Japan. To develop such a program, information about (1) the kinds of questions that are asked and (2) the frequency with which they are asked are needed. To collect these data, a questionnaire was distributed to university students who had finished a semester of ESL program in an English-speaking country. The result indicated that everyday topics such as food and culture were much more frequently asked about than topics in social issues. The analysis of each question also revealed that the questions can be grouped into a 4 X 3 matrix based on the types of questions (e.g., ones that ask for factual information versus ones that ask for opinions) and the necessity to answer them adequately (e.g., embarrassing versus not so embarrassing,if not answered properly). Based on these findings, the importance of carefully selecting the topics and types of questions for the content of the preparation program is discussed.

English Caf is a place where students discuss ideas with students from all over the world, motivating themselves to become global leaders. English Caf has been held every Friday during lunch hour at the Faculty of Engineering, Shinshu University since December 2013. Activities including 10 minute presentations and group discussions encourage students to have their own opinions, to want to express their opinions, and to learn ways to express their opinions to others of diverse backgrounds. A total of 330 students participated in English Caf between December 2013 and July 2017, but students who made academic travels abroad and international students participated more frequently than other students. Furthermore, we compared the current TOEIC scores of participants and non-participants to their scores in their first year of studies, and found that the average increases were 146.3 and 34.2 points, respectively. In particular, the increase was 169.0 points among English Caf participants with overseas experiences, showing an interaction effect of both English Caf participation and overseas experiences and time. Our study suggests that English Caf attracts globally oriented students and is creating a snowball effect in their global awareness: that is, they go abroad more and they study harder for TOEIC exams.

This paper examines the process of developing the hybrid English language program, consisting of the short-term intensive course in Manila in the Philippines coupled with the preliminary online lessons, which were conducted twice on a trial basis. The program has been organized to help Meiji University students with limited English-speaking skills develop their proficiency intensively. Primary objectives of the program include linguistic preparation and development of intercultural competence for a successful study-abroad experience. First, the paper explains the context behind the creation of the hybrid program and the design of the trial programs implemented in the summer of 2017 and the spring of 2018 respectively. Next, the paper describes the program in practice and examines the impact on the program participants’ speaking proficiencies, referring to their TOEIC® Speaking Test scores conducted as pre-and post-tests. Finally, the paper argues how the program has been transformed into a credit-bearing course with the aim of developing both the English language proficiency and the cultural competency as part of the effort to foster global human resources.

This study presents a new perspective on short-term study abroad, focusing on university students’ awareness of two essential competencies.“global competency” and “fundamental competencies for working persons.” For Japanese students, a popular means of meeting this demand is short-term study abroad; however, current programs do not seem to address global liberal arts, particularly fundamental competencies for working persons. For first-and second-year students, Hokkaido University’s First Step Program (FSP) provides a new perspective on this issue; it is a credited two-week program comprising student exchange activities at partner institutions and in-depth discussions with professionals at various Japanese/global companies and international organizations. Reports submitted as assignments by FSP students analyzing their description of international liberal arts revealed that flexible goal-setting attracted students, the two-week program is sufficient for them to gain awareness of global liberal arts, such as career planning, and this awareness could provide a basis for proceeding to the second step of longer-term study abroad.