<調査報告・実践報告>超短期派遣留学における留学前の英語準備対策と英語運用能力の向上との相関について

Abstract

京都大学では平成23 年度後期より超短期留学プログラムと連動した新たな外国語科目(全学共通科目C群外国語(英語)科目)を開講した。本科目の役割は超短期留学プログラムの準備であり、専門分野でのコミュニケーションスキル(アカデミック・ライティング、プレゼンテーション、ディスカッション)の向上を目指している。その中で、英語運用能力試験を受験することを超短期留学プログラムへの参加条件としており、その試験結果により本科目による英語運用能力の向上を定量的に検証する。本稿では、超短期留学プログラムへの参加者が受験した英語運用能力試験の結果を統計分析することにより、参加者の英語運用能力の特徴を明らかにすると共に、超短期派遣留学に必要な英語運用能力を養成するための準備講座の改善点について述べる。

Two cases of study abroad, preparatory English course designs were compared to better understand the relationship to improvements in students' communicative skills. These cases were(1)"Inside Australia: Cross-cultural Communication" offered at The University of Sydney, and(2)"The Effective Science Communicator in a Global Society" offered at The University of New South Wales, Institutes of Languages. Both programs were tailored to cater the needs of Kyoto University students and aimed specifically at improving participants' communicative abilities. The pre-departure International English Language Testing System(IELTS)was conducted to identify participants' relative skill levels in four areas, (i.e. reading, listening, writing, and speaking)and determine which skill attention required particular attention. To evaluate speaking skills, an additional interview assessment equivalent to IELTS was conducted before and after the study-abroad program, in order to measure students' progress over the course of their study. Based on the analysis of these IELTS scores, there is strong evidence that students' receptive abilities have less impact on the performance of their productive communicative skills such as in writing and speaking. To increase overall scores, the students must therefore prioritize the improvement of their writing skills since it is strongly correlated to all other skills, but particularly speaking. This study indicates the preparatory course and the pre-departure IELTS was successful in helping students to become better communicators during their study-abroad program.