Abstract:

This paper is an interim report on the 3-year grant-in-aid project which attempts to incorporate a European Global Citizenship Framework (Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture, hereafter referred to RFCDC) in English and communication-related courses of Japanese Universities. RFCDC is a new European framework to prepare students to become active global citizens in democratic societies by teaching democratic values and attitudes together with knowledge, communication skills and critical understanding. Published in 2018, the framework has been used mainly in Europe in various subjects at different educational levels. This study is twofold; investigating the usability of the framework’s descriptors in terms of necessity, validity and doability, and applying them to the 3 types of English and communication-related courses of Japanese universities. The 3 types of university courses used for the experiment are required English classes, specialized English classes (ESP/CLIL/EMI) and general communication-related classes. First, the online survey for 191 teachers about the possibility and doability of applying RFCDC descriptors to their classes showed a quite positive result as well as some challenges. Secondly, a series of preliminary piloting were conducted in order to establish the original instructional design and specifications for each course. At this stage, approximately 20 RFCDC descriptors that fit different-type classes were selected and actually operationalized in teaching 6 classes. Then, 27 English and communication-related classes were taught by 12 teachers based on this new scheme. The first, semester-long experiments in these courses went quite well; students’ class evaluations were mostly improved compared to those of the same classes of previous semesters, while pre- and post-questionnaires asking students to assess their perceived abilities and confidence levels for the descriptors incorporated in each class exhibited increases to varying degrees. However, teachers reported problems such as the misfit between teaching materials and the corresponding descriptors to be achieved, as well as the cultural difficulty with developing assertive attitude and criticality leading to actions for Japanese students. So, modifications and adjustments of some descriptors and instructional models have been made, reflecting the teacher feedback. At the same time, an attempt has been made to construct more holistic and cumulative curriculums involving a multiple number of courses offered in some specific departments, so that students can acquire major RFCDC competences in a more integrated manner.

Keywords:

Global Citizenship education, RFCDC descriptors, Japanese university courses, instructional models.