A Faulty Ivory Tower: Reflections on Directing the ELP from 2006 to 2012

The period from 2006 to 2012 marked a turbulent and difficult time for the English Language Program (ELP) at International Christian University (ICU). This paper offers the Program Director’s analysis of the manifestations, underlying causes, and suggestions for ameliorating the problems experienced in the ELP during this period. The main conclusions are that a relatively small number of disaffected instructors had a disproportionately negative impact on an otherwise effective group of teachers, and that certain organizational and administrative aspects of the program unintentionally exacerbated this problematic situation. Changes in management structure and personnel policies, as well as professional development training are recommended to address these problems

Chaos, Complexity and Language Learning

Complex systems theory is a relatively new paradigm for understandingsystems behavior. It was originally developed in the fields ofmathematics and physical sciences. Complex systems theory has alsobeen widely proposed as an important new way to look at social andcognitive sciences, including language learning. One criticism of this newparadigm in the field of language learning is that no clear model oflanguage learning based on complex systems theory has been developed.This paper considers the current state of language education, provides anoverview of complex systems theory and then proposes a basic model oflanguage learning based on the new paradigm. The paper concludes withsome implications of adopting a complex systems model of languagelearning

English-medium Instruction Across Majors at ICU (2008-2011):Opportunities and Constraints

This paper looks at the extent and distribution of English-medium instruction atInternational Christian University (ICU) from 2008 to 2011. This time periodrepresents the first four years following a major academic reform in the College ofLiberal Arts (CLA) at ICU, and a time when the administration aimed to increase thepercentage of courses taught in English to 45%. The two main questions addressed inthe paper were, in 2008-2011, (a) how close did ICU get to this 45% target, and (b)what constraints limited the availability of English-medium instruction? This type ofinformation, which both students and their advisers need to know, has not beenprovided by the ICU administration in the past, nor for the period considered in thispaper. Our results show an increase in “E-course” offerings (an ICU designation forcourses in which English is used primarily) from 15.2% in 1997-2000, to 21% in 2008-2011. Inconsistent availability of English-medium instruction was found across majors,and involved the major prerequisite courses, 100-level courses, and General Education(GE) courses. Scheduling patterns which further constrained the availability ofEnglish-medium courses for some students were found. Finally, we found that thepercentage of senior theses written in English by March graduates had dropped to 28%.Based on our findings, we suggest some questions for future discussion at ICU