How Personal Digital Devices Are Used for Learning English at Hiroshima University

The prevalence of personal digital devices, such as personal computers, smartphones, and tablets, has enabled students and teachers to utilize a tremendous amount of online learning materials and resources available anytime and anywhere. In English education at the tertiary level, active exploitations of these digital devices outside of the classroom would be highly beneficial in providing learners with more opportunities to improve their English proficiency. Hiroshima University has been implementing an English education project in which in-class activities are combined with a variety of WBT (Web-Based Training) materials to be learned outside of school. It has also been developing and delivering its original English podcasts for self-learning on a weekly basis. In 2015, the university launched a BYOL (Bring Your Own Laptop) policy, which is expected to promote learning by using these lightweight devices. In this paper, we report on a questionnaire regarding the penetration rates of digital devices and the popularity of English self-learning using personal mobile devices. The survey was conducted on 1,000 first-year students at Hiroshima University. The number of valid responses was 767. It was found that there are high penetration rates of laptop computers (99.5%) and smartphones (94.3%), while only 22% of the respondents are using their personal digital devices for English learning, and 3.5% of them are actually listening to Hiroshima University’s podcasts. With better publicity, the number of podcast listeners can be expected to increase in the near future because of the students’ high demands for online listening materials to learn daily English conversation.本研究はJSPS科研費 基盤研究（B）16H03450による研究成果の一部である。本研究の成果は，広島大学外国語教育研究センター「新カリキュラムにともなう学生の英語力向上ワーキンググループ」（榎田一路，上西幸治，鬼田崇作，草薙邦広，阪上辰也，田北冬子，達川奎三，森田光宏，山本五郎，吉川りさ）の活動の一端によるものである

Development and Utilization of the Hirodai Standard 6000 Vocabulary List (HiroTan)

In this paper, the development of an original EFL vocabulary list for the undergraduate students at Hiroshima University is reported on, along with the way the list has been utilized in the EFL curriculum there. The Hirodai Standard 6000 Vocabulary List (HiroTan), first developed by the Institute for Foreign Language Research and Education (FLaRE) in 2010, has been used in the new online-based compulsory EFL courses, targeting approximately 1,000 first-year students at the university each year. A total of 6,000 English words that are used in daily, business, and academic contexts were selected, and then divided into two levels: 4,000 for the Standard level and 2,000 for the Advanced level. The list was compiled based on several existing vocabulary lists, such as the Academic Word List (Coxhead, 2000), the JACET 8000 Word List (Aizawa et al., 2005), and two TOEIC®-related word lists (Mizumoto, 2004; Enokida et al, 2008). All the English instructors at FLaRE worked together to write a sample sentence and its Japanese translation for each of the 6,000 entry words. An original WBT (web-based training) system was used to provide learning materials for the online courses, and the list was also made available in printed form. In the online courses, students are required to learn 3,000 words in the list per semester (15 weeks) and 6,000 per year using the WBT system. Part of the course content is linked to other compulsory, classroom-based EFL courses, so that students can be assisted to consolidate their vocabulary knowledge on a face-to-face basis. Our future plans include: 1) the replacement of the old, Adobe Flash-based WBT system with the new, HTML5-based one, and 2) a major update of the list to include a range of new important words that appear in the latest vocabulary lists, such as the New General Service List and the New Academic Word List (Browne et al., 2013)

Implementation and Revision of the Hirodai Standard 6000 Vocabulary List (HiroTan)

At Hiroshima University, online EFL courses dedicated to vocabulary building have been implemented since 2011, targeting approximately 1,000 undergraduate students each year. As reported in Enokida et al. (2018), an original vocabulary list was developed for these courses, consisting of 6,000 essential English words in daily, business, and academic contexts. A Web-Based Training system was also developed to facilitate online vocabulary learning and to manage learner data. The courses have been successfully implemented since the system’s launch in 2011. This paper reports on a recent update on the vocabulary list that reflects the latest tendency of the students’ English skills at the university over the past nine years. First, each of the 6,000 words on the list was carefully checked, so relatively unimportant words could be excluded from the list. Then, a total of 1,070 new essential words that are not included in the list were collected from five existing vocabulary lists: The New General Service List and the New Academic Word List (Browne et al., 2013a, 2013b), the TOEIC Service List and the Business Service List (Browne et al., 2016a, 2016b), and TOEIC® L & R Official Vocabulary Book (The Institute for International Business Communication, 2019). These words were rated by a team of five experienced FLaRE instructors on a 5-point scale according to the TOEIC® levels. As a result, 264 new words were selected to be included in the updated version of the list. The latest version of the list will be open to the public in the near future

Development of "A Training Course to Cultivate the Abilities Required for Teachers," a Program to Bring on Teachers with a High Degree of Specialization and Practical Leadership - Towards the Building of a Program for Undergraduate Education

学級崩壊，心の病に陥る教師，増えるクレーマー等々の現実に，学生たちも教員採用試験に合格してから，教壇に立つことの責任の重さ，自分の指導力の未熟さを痛感し，押しつぶされそうになる。この状態を少しでも克服していくため教師力育成講座を開講することとした。不易と流行の両方の観点から具体的な教育課題を現職の小・中学校長に提案してもらい，それらの課題解決を通して教師力を育成していくことを目指す。また，他学部の教員志望学生や大学院生等にも参加を呼びかけ，志を一にする学生同士が互いに切磋琢磨し，より幅広い確かな教師力の育成に資するものである。Circumstances surrounding today’s schools are becoming increasingly harsh, as evidenced by the prevalence of dysfunctional classrooms, teachers who suffer mental illnesses, and excessively demanding students and their parents who complain at every opportunity. Even after passing the teacher employment examinations, students become overwhelmed with the daunting responsibilities of standing at the podium as a teacher, and are made painfully aware of their immature leadership skills. To overcome these problems as much as possible, we have decided to offer a training course to cultivate the abilities required for teachers. The aims are to have individuals currently serving as elementary and middle school principals propose concrete educational challenges from the perspectives of continuity and change, and to have the participants nurture their "power as teachers" through addressing those challenges. Students of other departments as well as graduate students hoping to become teachers are also encouraged to take part. The friendly competition and camaraderie among students who share the same aspirations and interests will contribute to fostering an even broader and sound power as teachers

Significance of volume embolization ratio as a predictor of recanalization on endovascular treatment of cerebral aneurysms with Guglielmi detachable coils

The purposes of this study are, firstly, to define the relationship between volume embolization ratio (VER) and degree of angiographical occlusion in endovascular treatment with Guglielmi detachable coils, and secondly, to examine influences of neck and dome sizes of aneurysms on the VER and the angiographical treatment result, and thirdly, to determine the relationship between the VER and the recanalization of coiled aneurysms. Fifty-two aneurysms in 46 patients were examined. VER ranged 8.1-31.9% (mean 18.5%). The mean VERs of each categories based on angiographical treatment results were 23.1% in complete occlusion, 16.1% in neck remnant and 12.2% in incomplete occlusion, respectively. The VER correlated significantly with both neck and dome size, while the angiographical treatment result was only affected by neck size. Five aneurysms showed aneurysmal recanalization among followed-up 41 aneurysms. All recanalized aneurysms were large, and their VERs were in range of 10.4-17.6%. Measurement of VER is useful to estimate the degree of occlusion objectively and to predict the aneurysmal recanalization. A small aneurysms with a small neck is relatively easy to achieve high VER and angiographical complete occlusion, with the consequence of less recanalization. On the other hand, a large aneurysm is liable to recanalize due to low VER, even if there was little filling of contrast medium in the aneurysmal cavity

Role of a forward-viewing echoendoscope in fine-needle aspiration

AbstractA prototype forward-viewing echoendoscope has been developed for therapeutic endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA). The hard tip of the forward-viewing echoendoscope, which is shorter than that of the convex type echoendoscope, can be maneuvered flexibly. Using the forward-viewing echoendoscope, the gastrointestinal wall can be vertically punctured along the same axis as the scope, and this process is done more easily than with an oblique-viewing echoendoscope. The diagnostic accuracy of EUS-FNA with the forward-viewing echoendoscope is 97.4%, which is not significantly different to that of the oblique-viewing echoendoscope. The forward-viewing echoendoscope may be useful in situations where the location and procedure are difficult with the oblique-viewing scope, The forward-viewing echoendoscope is able to puncture the gastrointestinal wall vertically with minimal effort, therefore allowing therapeutic EUS procedures such as pseudocyst and abscess drainage, biliary drainage, and pancreatic duct drainage to be performed easily. However, a significant difference between the forward-viewing and oblique-viewing echoendoscopes in pseudocyst drainage has been reported recently. In the future, the forward-viewing and oblique-viewing echoendoscopes will probably be selectively used depending on not only lesion site but also the procedure required in individual patients, thereby facilitating various processes including puncture, tissue collection, and diagnosis, as well as therapeutic procedures

TOEIC S&Wテストを少人数クラスに統合した2年目のプログラムの評価

本論文は，2年間連続で実施した少人数クラスで行われたTOEIC®S&W テストの調査研究の上に，更なる研究を行ったものである。HiSPECというプログラムは，各学部1 年時の英語力トップクラスの学生に対して提供されたもので，英語力向上の支援を目的としたものである。本論文の焦点は，HiSPECライティング授業に対する教師のフィードバック，アンケート調査に対する学生の反応，及びTOEIC®S&Wの結果である。 結果として，HiSPECライティング授業に関して，教師も学生も高い満足度があり，HiSPECライティング授業は学生にとって十分意味あるものであることがわかった。また，10月と1月の間にTOEICライティングスコアにかなりの向上が見られた。しかし，TOEICスピーキングに関しては，その向上は見られなかった。This article builds upon previous research investigating the integration of the TOEIC® Speaking and Writing test with small group classes. The program, HiSPEC, is designed to raise the English abilities of first-year students with the best English skills in their respective faculties. The focus of the article is on teachers’ feedback to the 2017 HiSPEC Writing course, students’ responses to a questionnaire survey, and the students’ TOEIC® S&W test results. Our findings show that there was a high level of satisfaction for both teachers and students in relation to the HiSPEC Writing course, and that HiSPEC Writing classes were well-regarded by the students in terms of class size, class activities, and materials. Also, regarding the results of the TOEIC® Writing tests held at the beginning and end of the semester, considerable improvement was found in the students’ scores. However, with respect to TOEIC® Speaking test scores, no increase was found