Voices on Campus: International Students in an English-medium Instruction Degree Program in Japan
Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: Attempts to globalize university education in Japan have increased rapidly over the last five years. As a result of the Global 30 Project, Japan is now hosting more international students than ever before and offering them education in English. Are those foreign students being well served by these new programs? In this study I investigate the university-life experiences of undergraduate international students participating in an English-medium instruction degree program in Japan. The results of interviews with five students with different nationalities reveal that although international students come from diverse backgrounds, their lived experiences in Japan share some remarkably similar characteristics. The data suggest that improving communication between administration and students; expanding course selection and teacher support; and building better connections between the international students and local Japanese students would all improve the lives of these foreign students. If such measures were acted upon, they could go some way in promoting the international campuses necessary to realize Japan’s most recent global initiative, the Top (or Super) Global University Project.
Author: Juanita Heigham
Language: English
Subfield: Communication
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W590119225