The Number of English-medium Courses at ICU from 2000 to 2007

Abstract

This investigation follows that of Riney (2000), which reported the number andpercentage of courses listed as “E” (English medium of instruction) fromAcademic Year 1997 to 2000, based on the annually published ICU Courseofferings and guide to academic regulations. The current paper reports the sametype of data but from a more recent time period, 2001 through 2007, andinvolving an additional longitudinal perspective of any changes in “E” listings atICU over a longer period of time. For the time period 2001 to 2007, it was foundthat of 4802 courses listed in General Education and the six ICU major academicdivisions, the language of instruction of 65.7% of the courses was listed as “J”(Japanese), 17.0% as “E” and the remainder involved some combination of “E”and “J,” with “J” almost always the primary language. This paper (a) provides thedetails of these listings year by year for General Education and each of the sixmajor academic divisions at ICU; (b) allows for a comparison of the results of thisinvestigation with that of Riney (2000); and (c) points out why a mere reportingof such listings may not be an adequate indication of overall practice in terms oflanguage of instruction at ICU