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Continuing the formative evaluation of an extensive reading course
Get PDFThis paper reports on a longitudinal evaluation of four academic years of the Extensive Reading (ER) component of an Academic Skills (AS) course for first year undergraduates at a Japanese university from 2018 to 2021. In April 2020, ER transitioned from a face-to-face environment with physical books to an online one with digital resources due to COVID-19. This inevitably had consequences. This paper begins by outlining the teaching context and term specific course structure. It then details the changes made as a result of the pandemic before exploring the effectiveness of each term by continuing the preliminary analysis begun by Klassen and Allan (2018). Data collection comprises word counts, vocabulary level testing, timed-reading speeds, and student feedback. Analysis suggests that students generally met the course aims in both the face-to-face and online environments by accomplishing word count reading targets, and improving their reading speeds and knowledge of high frequency lexis. Student feedback was generally positive, but key areas are highlighted as needing improvement. Suggestions for how ER might be administered more effectively based on these insights are offered.departmental bulletin pape
Reflective practice of research writing instruction : suggestions drawn from critical incident analysis
Get PDFThis paper seeks to explore a first-year instructor’s experience of teaching a Research Writing (RW) course at International Christian University (ICU) by reflecting on and analyzing the critical incidents observed in the RW course, which cover issues concerning plagiarism and assignment rationale. The suggestions regarding the specific changes for future course revision are provided following the analyses and are complemented by the findings in the term-end student course questionnaire. The critical incident analyses indicate that writing skills, especially paraphrasing, summarizing, and referencing, should be taught more extensively and that research skills for finding appropriate sources should be taught at an early stage before choosing a topic. The limitations of this study and the aspiration for further research are also mentioned at the end.departmental bulletin pape
リスク・コミュニケーションにおける摩擦の問題 ―ニクラス・ルーマンの社会学の観点を参照して―
Get PDF“LCS: Less Conflictual Solutions” is a methodology of “functional tolerance” theory proposed by Yoichiro Murakami. Takeaki Komatsu regards the concept of “tolerance” defined by Murakami as the one which shows a necessary condition for information senders to understand the context of their communication with information receivers or to build a new context they will be able to share. This definition appears when Komatsu criticizes the premises of risk communication. This paper aims to reconsider LCS and functional tolerance theory by analyzing Komatsu’s argument based on Niklas Luhmann’s sociology. According to Komatsu, one of the main interests of risk communication is how to convince information receivers. It means that the success of risk communication for information senders is to gain information receivers’ trust in their risk management. However, such an assumption is not self-evident if referred to Luhmann’s comments on risk communication. He distinguishes risks from dangers. Risks belong to the decision-makers, and dangers belong to those affected. In other words, risks are the losses recognized as the results of a decision, and dangers are the ones recognized as what are provided from the outside. There is a gulf between the decision-makers and those affected. What Luhmann pointed out is important to reexamine LCS. Murakami says that it is impossible to achieve the unique solution as the least-conflictual one. Therefore, making a compromise is necessary to reach a less conflictual solution. However, LCS cannot be a methodology to overcome a gulf between the decision-makers and those affected. On the other hand, Murakami emphasizes the importance of seeking a possibility to find a better solution, not the best one. If a person places absolute trust in the option selected already, he/she will lose sight of the possibility of choosing a better solution. He/she should be conscious that their present choice is tentative. Murakami regards that such a person is functionally tolerant. Being functionally tolerant is necessary to improve a situation by recognizing a gulf between the decision-makers and those affected, though it will not be resolved completely. In this meaning, Komatsu’s definition of Murakami’s “tolerance” is incorrect. Komatsu’s criticism against risk communication can be applied to LCS, but not to functional tolerance theory itself. However, this does not mean that functional tolerance theory should be accepted uncritically. It will be possible to revise LCS and functional tolerance theory by referring to Luhmann’s view.departmental bulletin pape
