International Student Quality and Japanese Higher Education Reform

Abstract

The number of international students in Japan has continued to increase at a rapid pace and has featured very prominently in the so-called internationalization of higher education. International students had been expected to become a catalyst for internationalization and university reform. Recently, however, concern has been raised about the reported decline in the “quality” of international students. This article uses a case study approach to examine the student-quality issue and conducts a review of the closely related problematic educational environment for international students at Japanese universities. Whereas educational-quality problems tend to affect all students, they invariably affect international students to a greater extent because of language obstacles and a lack of awareness regarding cultural and educational differences. The article concludes that for Japanese universities to effectively sustain the current number of international students, particular attention must be given to the improvement of classroom instruction and other educational support.

English-medium teaching in Korean higher education: policy debates and reality

“…However, unlike in Europe, researchers have yet to thoroughly document EMI implementation in Asian countries. The few available resources (e.g., Altbach 2004;Balla and Penning 1996) indicate that those South-Asian countries formerly colonized by Englishspeaking countries, such as India, Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong, have widely adopted EMI, while in other Asian countries (such as China, Japan, and Korea), EMI also has gained popularity, as one of the most effective strategies for coping with internationalization (Tsuneyoshi 2005;Lassegard 2006;Jon and Kim in process;Yumei 2010). There is one notable difference in EMI course-introduction patterns between Korea and Japan.…”

English Medium Instruction in the Private Universities in Bangladesh

“…However, unlike Europe, there is no large scale empirical study regarding the implementation of EMI in Asian countries. The few available studies (Altbach, 2004;Balla & Penning, 1996) indicate that the formal colonized South Asian countries, such as India, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, have widely adopted EMI, while in other Asian countries, such as China, Japan and Korea, have also gained popularity for internationalization of higher education (Tsuneyoshi, 2005;Lassegard, 2006). Gradually, South Korea, Japan and China have updated its higher education introducing English as a medium of instruction.…”

The Challenges of Increasing Capacity and Diversity in Japanese Higher Education Through Proactive Recruitment Strategies

“…As Japanese universities are attempting to recruit more international students, admission can be a major issue as its procedures and requirements are not very standardized (Lassegard, 2006) and flexible. Before admitted to degree programs at a Japanese university, applicants submit a proof of their language proficiency with an application and then take an on-site entrance exam at the academic department of that university.…”

“…Although these issues can be attributed to a rapidly increasing number of international students (Lassegard, 2006), former Prime Minister Fukuda announced in January 2008 a highly ambitious plan for further increasing international student enrollments at Japanese institutions of higher education to 300,000 by the year 2020. The 300,000 plan might have surprised many educators and administrators at Japanese institutions as an increasing number of foreigners are being denied their entries to the nation because of stricter regulations by the immigration and because it took 20 years to increase international student enrollments by 100,000 (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology [MEXT], 2007).…”