日本大学歯学部紀要 37，43‑52，2009

An integrated skills‑communicative English course foruniversity students majoring in subjects other than English
Jean‑Pierre Chretien and Grant Mitchell
Abstract
This article describes a communicative English course designed for first year dentistry
students at a university in Tokyo.The course aims to provide more opportunities for students
to be engaged in English classroom activities.The activities are collaborative and integrate
all language skills providing more practice time and creating a rewarding and efficient teamteaching experience. The design process addresses constraints in the existing program thatare within the control of teachers,especially with regard to methodology and use of limited
instructional time. The course is a work‑in‑progress and there are yet to be any conclusive
results. Observation, however, shows students are well engaged, attending regularly anddisplaying confidence and willingness to use the English they already have,possibly indicating a rise in motivation to learn more.
Key words: Improved engagement,integrated skills,collaborative activities,communicative
English, team teaching.

Introduction
This article describes a communicative English course for first year dentistry students at
Nihon University School of Dentistry, Tokyo, Japan. The course aims to provide more
opportunities for students to become engaged in English classroom activities in which all
language skills are integrated.
During the design process we addressed several constraints in the existing English program,some of which are within direct control of teachers.Although some of the constraints seemed
intractable the authors found they could easily make adjustments in methodology and use of
instructional time.
This description of the course, the design process and the methods employed to overcome
these constraints, is intended to provide insights for other teachers facing similar challenges
implementing a curriculum for non‑English majors in university English programs.

Toward a new course in communicative English
The direction taken in the development of this course has several influences. In 2004 theM inistry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (Monbukagakusho)
issued a call to reform English language education at the university level calling for “forward

日本大学歯学部

英語

Nihon University School of Dentistry
1‑8‑13 Kanda‑Surugadai, Chiyoda‑ku, Tokyo 101‑8310, Japan〒 101‑8310 東京都千代田区神田駿河台１‑８‑13(受理：2009年９月 30日）

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日本大学歯学部紀要 37，43‑52，2009

thinking English language programs that attempt to link classroom learning and what happensin the world...producing graduates who can function in English in their chosen field.”In
response to the M onbukagakushoʼ
s call for reform, the university, in which the redesigned
course is a part of an English program, enacted changes, particularly in the areas of teamteaching and materials development,as described by Langham (2006).For example,dental casestudies and excerpts from medical journals are now used in upper level “ESP”courses, andefforts have been made to enhance the learning experience by merging instruction from native
speaking teachers with the Japanese‑speaking professors.
An extensive body of classroom‑centered research has investigated the types of tasks likely
to stimulate interactive language that supports the development of communicative competence.
Widdowson (1990) defined the notion of communicative competence as “...an ability tointerpret discourse whether the emphasis is on productive or receptive behavior.”He prescribed…should
an approach to developing communicative competence warning that the approach “
avoid treating the different skills and abilities that constitute competence in isolation of eachother...If the aim of language learning is to develop the underlying interpreting ability,then it
would seem reasonable to adopt an integrated approach to achieve it.”
Small‑group work prompts students to use a greater range of language functions than wholeclass activities (Long 1976),and there is more negotiation of meaning in activities in which theexchange of information is essential for the successful completion of the activity (Doughty &Pica 1986).English programs should begin with some review and practice of previously learned
English skills to build confidence and better prepare learners for ESP content (Evans & Squires
2006).
Agreeing that a communicative English course model would best help students to review andbuild confidence while practicing communication skills, the next step is to better understandparticular characteristics of the students in the program,then address existing constraints thatare within our control.

Student characteristics
Two characteristics of the students are crucial to appreciating the teaching challenge faced :1) The students are not majoring in English but are enrolled in a rigorous dentistry program
featuring technical lectures, laboratory work and high stakes testing,and2) Hailing from all over Japan, the students bring with them a diversity of preparation andexperience in English ; mostly grammar‑translation classes in high school. The dentistry
program also attracts older students returning to school after involvement in the workplace
who may have been away from English for some time.
These characteristics affect motivation,confidence,readiness and ability to participate in acommunication‑oriented course. Acknowledging these descriptors modified the teacherʼs44

An integrated skills course

expectations and guided the design of appropriate materials and activities.

Constraints
We identified seven constraints that impede student progress in developing English communicative skills. They are listed in Table 1 in order of the degree of control teachers have to act
on the constraint. On the right is a list of actions to address the constraint.
Table 1 : Constraints and proposed actions for change
Constraints

Actions

Teachers working independently

Collaboration in planning & teaching

Ineffective or inappropriate textbooks

Innovative materials design

Limited instructional time

Create cycles around universal topics

Examination requirements

Recycle activities in testing

Translation oriented students

Design collaborative & multi‑modal activities

Diversity of studentsʼbackgrounds

Design collaborative activities

High university expectations

Integrate & scaffold skills

Constraints within the control of teachers
Three of the seven constraints are within the control of the teachers:
1) The manner in which teachers are used
2) The type of instructional materials used
3) The way instructional time is used
Addressing these constraints in this university setting is reliant on forming an effective
teaching team, designing innovative instructional material and using the limited class time
efficiently and creatively.
Previously,the first year curriculum was taught by two teachers as two independent courses,
usually employing separate materials,requirements,goals and methodology.After a 50‑minuteclass, the students moved to another classroom and, on the whole, the two teachers did notcoordinate to control for redundancies in material covered,nor for gaps in skills practice.The
redesigned course allows the students to work on a single topic for both 50‑minute periods,
without the need to move to another classroom, with the teachers exchanging classrooms tocontinue the process of guiding students through activities. Where there was separation there
is now complete integration. Between each class the topics are consistent and the material
coordinated so there are no overlaps or gaps.
To maximize the use of limited instructional time the semester is organized into topic cyclesof 2 to 3 weeks, with each divided into activity segments. The material for each cycle is45日本大学歯学部紀要 37，43‑52，2009

centered on a current global “issue”and all activities are carefully designed to be student‑
focused,communicative,collaborative and integrating all language skills.The curriculum aims
to create a learning environment that resembles more the dynamism of an interactive laboratory of language experiment and discovery than a lecture hall.

Cycles & Segments
The course is designed to give equal weight to all language skills. Each segment of a cycle
emphasizes a single skill while each activity within that segment allows the student to incorporate practice of all language skills.
The first Reading segment of every cycle is an introduction to the topicʼ
s key vocabulary.In
this segment students are required to practice brainstorming,scan for vocabulary in an article,
gather and share information from the article, and take notes using a graphic organizer. For
example in the cycle on Waste & Recycling students use a simple graphic organizer to list thekinds of garbage they personally produced in a week and how they think that garbage isultimately disposed of. In groups of 4 they receive 3 pertinent vocabulary words and asked tofind a relationship between the words relying, not on dictionaries, but their own (and theirgroupʼs) background knowledge. Then they scan the provided text looking for the words incontext, confirming meaning and viewing usage of the vocabulary within grammatical structures. Finally, they share their findings with other groups, taking notes along the way.In thisway we reinforce collaboration, prediction, scanning and natural acquisition of vocabulary incontext with authentic texts.
In the following Speaking segment students draw on the vocabulary acquired in Reading todiscuss the issues surrounding the topic,taking additional notes in their notebook binders.The
style of the speaking activityvaries.For example in the cycle about Energystudents were given
a list of 20 alternative energy sources, both imaginary and actual. In groups of 4 they thenidentified the actual alternative energysources,then separated and prioritized the list into three
categories: low environmental impact, efficiency and suitability for Japan, using a graphicorganizer. Then the groups compared results with other groups.
In both cases,the activities give students opportunities to draw on prior and peer knowledge,
negotiate meaning between fellow interlocutors,all the while building a corpus of topic related
vocabulary in context. We found this to be an effective method for overcoming the physicalconstraints of time and space that they,and most other teachers,have had to deal with (shortclass times,large classes)by utilizing students prior knowledge,abilities and desire to express
ideas about global issues that matter to them,and to be teaching tools for others in the group.
Furthermore when the teaching activities are student‑focused,the majority of the learning will
be student‑led.
Guidelines are given to the students to help them extend the topics outside of class and toreview the vocabulary in more meaningful ways. Whenever possible students are directed to46

An integrated skills course

relevant websites. Extending the learning to non‑class settings contributes to negating theeffect of the constraints mentioned above.
The following week, in the third Listening segment the activity extends the discussion andreinforces listening skills,question formation and clarification of understanding.For example,
a listening activity on Endangered Animals featured a Bingo game in which the game board
consists of 10 endangered animals students had previously read about and discussed.In groups
of 4, members take turns as the “caller”reading out a short description of the animal.If theyrecognize the animal they place a marker on the game board and can acquire an additional clue
from the teacher.
This type of listening activity incorporates characteristics of real life listening characterized
by certain features.The Bingo game described above is a “problem solving”exercise in which
students hear the information relevant to a particular problem and then set themselves to solve
it through group discussion.Students control the amount of repetition and seek advice from theteachers by asking pertinent questions. A graphic representation helps hearers to grasp theinformation to resolve the problem more easily (Ur 1992).
In the final Writing segment of the cycle,information gathered on the topic is shared throughvarious writing related activities. We ask students to “free write”and use class time as awriting clinic in which students, writing in pairs, can freely seek advice from the teacher andother students. We do not restrict “writing”to topic summaries, but include the making ofvisual aids and preparing for presentations as part of the writing segment.For example,in thecycle about Dental Health,students composed and illustrated dental health pamphlets aimed atteaching dental health practices. The pamphlets are a good example of portable visual aids
made for use in short presentations.Again,guidelines are given for extending the topic outsideof class and reviewing the vocabulary and whenever possible students are directed to relevant
websites.

Evaluation & Assessment
Evaluation of students is ongoing and based primarily on the studentsʼnotebook binders
which become valuable “
artifacts”showing a studentʼs effort and revealing “the insight andtransformation of the studentʼs ideas”(Lyons & La Boskey 2002).The notebooks are physicalevidence of a studentʼ
s commitment and achievement in synthesizing information.In the middleof the semester,and again near to the end,students share and criticize the notebooks in small
groups using a graphic organizer to help record achievements and organize comments. The
information is reported to the teachers who found that, on the whole, the students gave eachother critical,honest and supportive comments.As with “portfolio assessment,”typically usedin writing courses, we gathered a collection of other material from the students including a
writing sample, collaborative posters, hand made pamphlets and other visual aids used inpresentations.
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日本大学歯学部紀要 37，43‑52，2009

Additionally the university requires a paper examination given after the last class of eachsemester and which must account for at least 60% of their total assessment for the semester.
For this we attempted to design tests of some validity that recalled and mimicked the content
of the activities in class, but being large‑scale paper tests, with both the setting (50 min)andmarking constrained in time, we were limited to creating gap filling and multiple choice
exercises. We donʼt feel this approach is entirely successful in assessing the communicative
abilities (with the exception of reading), which the students had been working so hard to
improve and we feel that the current examination system,as an valid assessment tool,proved
to be the weakest part of the course design. Moreover, during a make up class for those who
failed, it was evident that many students were not applying scanning skills practiced in class,and they were not using time efficiently.We believe that this difference was because,in a paper
examination, students must work alone on an activity that essentially measures only reading,decoding and memory skills, while in a communicative class, students work collaboratively
practicing,perfecting and supporting each other in developing skills.We hope to partly resolve
this conflict between the administrative requirements of the school and the goals of the coursein the final tests.In a retest,held one week after the make up class,all of the students succeededin passing the examination. While it was pleasing to see this positive result, we remained
concerned that the achievements are somewhat hollow.

Constraints beyond the control of teachers
Four constraints are beyond the control of teachers. A discussion of the nature of these
constraints is beyond the scope of this paper, but we simply highlight them to show how theyaffect the progress of students in acquiring facility and fluency in English.
Two of the constraints are concerned with the diversity of the studentsʼpast experiences inEnglish.M ost had years of exposure to passive classrooms using grammar‑translation methodology.Few have traveled abroad and for many it is the first time theyhave interacted directlywith English native speakers.Since this is primarilya program in dentistrythere is little motive
to excel in English in spite of the stated goals of the university.
Yet, the diversity of studentsʼbackgrounds can actually drive more communication of acertain kind since collaboration makes every student a potential teacher. Multi‑modality inactivities allows students to transform information into “...a range of modes‑into a new sense,
their sense, representing their interests in their world.”(Kress 2000) by stimulating language
development in different parts of the brain. Activities allow students the chance to acquire
knowledge and language skills in ways other than through memorization and translation.

University expectations and practices
The other two constraints stem from universityexpectations and practices.Some of the aimsof the English program at the university are to produce graduates who are able to read and48

An integrated skills course

contribute to research in dentistry, to comfortably participate in international conferences,seminars and symposia,and to succeed in post‑graduate study in dentistry at English medium
universities.
But students, interested in graduate study overseas, would need to perform well on the
TOEFL, especially the newer, internet based format (iBT) which measures an applicantʼsability to perform effectively in simulated university classroom activities, requiring the test
taker to integrate skills. In order for our students to be able to read a text, listen to anothertext,and prepare an oral response in less than a minute,without benefit of a dictionary would
require several years of practice in integrated skills courses.
The university English program includes ESP courses given in the second and third year.At
least some of the ESP courses focus on articles from medical journals‑reading that is technicaland demanding and would require considerable vocabularyand experience to process smoothly.
While the academic expectations are admirable they may be unrealistic and out of range formost of the students given the limited instructional time and the varied backgrounds of thestudents. The few for whom these aims are within reach would have already possessedconsiderable skill in English before entering the dentistry program.
To perform well in the stated aims requires a student to be well rounded and an effective
communicator,a person who can ask thoughtful questions,participate in class discussions,andwrite coherent arguments. To achieve these skills our students would need a great deal moretime,practice,information and confidence to develop “schemata”described in Nunan (1989)as“the mental structures that store our knowledge.”There may also be cultural differences that
affect how the university views communicative English classes and how it perceives thedevelopment of the skills necessary to attain its stated aims.

Summary of the course design
The purpose of this article is to provide insight into the process of developing a communicative English course that can help non‑English majors to develop skills in English and be
prepared for future challenges. The article does not attempt to analyze the effects of thechanges made to the course at this time. Instead it offers a template for teachers operating
under similar constraints who wish to introduce similar innovations to their respective teachingsituations.This summary of what we achieved in redesigning a portion of a universityʼ
s English
program includes actions and beliefs,all of which we hope will encourage further discussion andaction research.
In our redesign we embraced the notion that all students be given the opportunity to reach
their potential,to develop skills in which theymaybe lacking,at their own pace,through guidedpractice in collaborative activities. We believe that a communicative and collaborative
approach is beneficial in preparing these students for the ESP courses they will take in the
future,and helping them develop the communication skills theywill need attending conferences,49日本大学歯学部紀要 37，43‑52，2009

in reading and publishing research or attending graduate studyoverseas.We aimed to influence
the behavior of students,which in turn might influence universityexpectations and practices bymodeling success in creating students who can successfully function in English communication.
Throughout the process,we changed what was within our control‑improving team teaching
coordination, replacing textbooks with innovative original materials, integrating all language
skills in every activity, and combining instructional time and reducing disruptive student
movement between classrooms. We altered the timetable, and created cycles, which permit
regular opportunities to start anew. The topics we chose for these cycles were of universal
interest, recognizing that awareness of meaningful topics helps develop “schemata”as anintegral part of being a good communicator.Weʻ
scaffoldʼthe skills of each student byallowing
time and space for natural development, drawing on the skills and confidence of stronger
students during small group exercises.The text and activities were organized into single sheet
folded booklets that become a part of the studentsʼnotebook binders. The booklets were
designed this way to reduce the wasteful creation of multiple handouts, as well as to help
students to stay organized and minimize student loss of materials.
We found that working in collaboration as a teaching team was not always easy‑there may
be as many conceptual differences as there are practical hurdles‑but has been professionallyrewarding due to the sharing of ideas.Yet we discovered it is important to acknowledge fromthe outset that the task of redesigning a course takes time and will face certain intractable
constraints.Identifying specific roles for each teacher,capitalizing on an individualʼ
s expertise,
makes the design process more productive. Perceiving the task of redesigning the course as“action research,”with the goal of publishing the results or presenting the results of our efforts
at a conference provides additional motivation for introducing innovations.
The choice of global issues topics of international and local importance as a base for the
curriculum was informed by both the topicʼ
s inherent interest,but also with eye on the schoolʼsgeneral educational philosophy which aims to exposed students to a wide variety of intellectualideas and encourage them to view these ideas in relation to dental treatment and society as awhole.Therefore we hope to be encouraging the development of well‑rounded students who cancommunicate fluently in English and serve the needs of dental patients,not only in Japan,but
worldwide, and creating graduates who can participate on the world stage through participation in medical aid associations and attending conferences where they will be able to read,understand and contribute to international dentistry research.
Also we are sharing our work with our colleagues by documenting and photographing someof the activities and informally showcasing active, enthusiastic students who are engaged in
activities and are effective communicators. We do this by extending invitations to colleagues
to visit our classes and,quite literally,bykeeping our doors open allowing the noise and activity
to spill out of the classroom attracting observers and visitors.There is nothing more impressive
to an observer than to watch a group of student excitedlyusing the target language activelyand50

An integrated skills course

effectively.
It is our intention to continue the course in much the same style next year, but with minor
adjustments in content and delivery,reflecting our own course evaluation and student feedback.
It is our hope to move most of the materials online and create an interactiveʻ
blogʼto encourage
additional student contributions and therefore to offer students greater opportunities to extend
their learning and production outside of traditional classroom contexts.

Conclusion
In redesigning the English course for first year non English majors, a communicative
approach, in which all language skills are integrated in activities oriented around meaningful
topics,has shown students who are engaged in the class activities,and who display confidence
and willingness to use the English they already possess. Collaborative activities use limited
instructional time more efficiently,provide more practice time for students,allow for blendinga variety of student levels and create a rewarding team teaching experience.
This course is a work‑in‑progress and has yet to yield conclusive results in regards toimprovements in L2 competence, especially with regard to achievement on a university
mandated paper‑based examination. Observations of the students in class activities,however,is encouraging, showing active engagement with and use of English, and possibly indicating arise in motivation.
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