The International Program: curriculum design and assessment for an English-medium economics program

| December 4, 2013
Title
The International Program: curriculum design and assessment for an English-medium economics program

Keywords: economics curriculum design, adjunct course, curriculum requirements, program assessment

Author
Darrell Wilkinson and Raymond Yasuda
Soka University, Japan

Bio
Darrell Wilkinson is a full-time lecturer at Soka University in Tokyo, Japan. He teaches predominantly English for academic purposes on a number of coordinated courses, including the international program outlined in this paper. He has taught English in Thailand, Vietnam, England and Japan. His research interests include teaching reading and writing, learner autonomy, self-access centers, teaching mixed abilities, and content and language integrated learning (CLIL).

Raymond Yasuda is a full-time lecturer at Soka University in Tokyo, Japan. He currently teaches on the content-based International Program in the Faculty of Economics and the Global Citizenship Bilingual Honors Program. He has taught high school, university and adult business students in Japan and the United States. Areas of research interest include content and language integrated learning, writing fluency, curriculum development and standardized testing.

Abstract
This paper outlines an intensive English-medium Economics program which was established to facilitate the development of various skills and knowledge needed for students to achieve their goal of being successful members of the international academic and business community. The three-year content and language integrated learning (CLIL) program not only provides students with the opportunity to take English-medium economic classes, but through a series of English for academic purposes (EAP) adjunct classes and study abroad opportunities, systematically builds their EFL skills. The skills developed allow students to better understand the English-medium lectures, actively participate in academic discourses, and provide them with a host of useful skills for their future international studies or employment.
[private] Pages 347-354

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Category: Curriculum Contexts, Volume 15 Issue 4