Abstract:

This study explores how EFL students try to empathize with foreign residents in Japan using online interviews in a project-based learning course at an engineering school in Japan. This elective English course assigned the design thinking method and a 15-week long project was implemented to teach Japanese engineering students the skills of problem-solving and English communication such as negotiating, creating a rapport, and understanding others’ feelings and needs. In line with the design thinking method, “empathy interviews” – interviews with open-ended questions in order to relate to other people’s feelings and to understand why they feel that way – played a significant role in understanding the problems foreign residents face in Japan and in tackling the problems from their point of view. The participating students interviewed students from Asian countries residing near the campus regarding their lives in Japan and the everyday problems they experience. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Japanese students to conduct empathy interviews via Zoom. Based on the interviews, the Japanese students ideated the needs and created products to serve as solutions. The researchers examined the interview transcripts of the videos recorded via Zoom and categorized the question types the EFL students used to elicit problems. A post-semester interview was also conducted with individual Japanese students, in which they reflected on their empathy interviews, and this was analyzed using the thematic approach.

The participating students elicited the needs for better transportation methods in the local town and for opportunity to learn the local dialect, which is often used by elderly people, and for raising awareness about LGBTQ issues among Japanese youth. Regarding the course, positive responses were shown by the participating students as an opportunity to conduct a project using English as a communication medium and to explore the world from other people’s points of view. The result also indicates the need for more sophisticated interview and communication skills in both their native and second languages.

Keywords:

Project-based learning, design thinking, empathy, engineer education.