The Language Teacher
December 2000
PSA Programs in Japan: Dilemmas and Solutions
Richard Shooltz -
Tokyo Kasei University
Dirk Yuricich -
Former PSA Director
Choosing A PSA Program
The Japan Times (1997, p.14) reported that, according to the Japanese Ministry of Justice, over 180,000 Japanese students went abroad for studying or research in 1996. Since many of these students came right from Japanese high schools, this has led to the opening of many Preparations for Study Abroad (PSA) courses, throughout Japan. There can be two problems with PSA courses. First, the classes may focus on English as a foreign language (EFL) and not emphasize English for Special Purpose (ESP) skills. Second, because many high school guidance teachers have not lived or studied abroad, they may not know how to advise their students. This paper would like to provide some information about the problems that some of these programs have in Japan and why Japanese students do not always excel when they enter an overseas university.
Selecting the Student
Intellectually, Japanese students are prepared for studying at a foreign university. The Japan Times (1996) reported on a study done in 1995 by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement which showed that out of 46 countries world wide Japanese students ranked 3rd in math (with 605 points, the world average was 513) and 3rd in science (with 571 points, the world average was 516). This study shows that the education the students receive in Japan have prepared them quite well when compared to the students in other countries. But scores may be a poor indicator of a student' s performance overseas; thus, when selecting a student for a PSA program, it is important to choose someone who is highly motivated, who sees English as a tool to communicate ideas, and who is willing to work hard at learning the necessary study skills needed to do well at a foreign university. Students should be asked how motivated they will be in having to attend class consistently, read hundreds of pages a week, take detailed notes, and contribute to class discussions. As Ballard (1996, p.155) has written:
Overseas students cling tenaciously to the learning strategies that have worked so well for them in the past. They assume that hard work correlates with success, and so if they do poorly in an early test in a course they are prepared to work even longer hours to improve their grade -- the problem is that they are working in a reproductive rather than analytical style . . . [therefore] . . . their difficulties lie in the disjunction of expectations about the styles of learning that are required and the excuse of poor language competence merely glosses over these more basic problems.
Choosing a PSA Program
After a student has been selected, the next step is to find an appropriate PSA program for them to enter. There are several aspects that should be considered before a program is selected. First, teachers need to find out whether the successful completion of the program allows the student to enter a junior college or university directly, or if students have to attend an English language program. It is important that the PSA program helps the students develop the necessary TOEFL scores to allow them to score a minimum of 450 points, which is the bare minimum needed to be allowed into a two-year junior college program or a minimum of 550 to 575 for a state four-year university. To accomplish this, a PSA program should have connections with as few schools as possible. Some programs stress the fact that they have connections with many different colleges in several different countries. The problem with such programs is they do not provide a sound and specific curriculum that helps the student develop the study skills they need. If a program attempts to state that it prepares a student for many colleges, it really is not preparing a student properly for any college. In Japan, just as the entrance exam to each university is slightly different so to are the requirements for colleges in each state or prefecture in various countries. The goal of a PSA program should be to prepare the student in a year' s time to be able to enter the foreign college as a regular student and not to have to attend further English classes at a foreign college' s English language center in order to meet the college' s requirements.
To check on the success of the program, a teacher should ask to see the success rate of former graduates from past PSA programs: How many students are able to enter directly into a college and how many need to enter EFL classes before they can proceed? Also, teachers should check on the number of Japanese students who have graduated from the foreign universities, and how long getting a degree has taken them. Each student is different, but a junior college student normally takes two to three years to graduate. If it is taking longer, then perhaps the students are not being prepared properly before they arrive at the college.
Finally, a good PSA program should follow up on the students after they graduate to see what type of jobs the students are getting or if they are pursuing further education. This is the real mark of a good PSA program -- do they follow the students from the time they enter the PSA program until they graduate and continue their careers? Only by getting feedback from the students can a PSA program improve the courses it offers. Also, any PSA program that is unable to provide the above information may indicate that it is only in business to make money and not developing the academic skills the students need to excel at an overseas university or college.
Having connections with as few schools as possible allows a PSA program to develop courses that will transfer to the foreign college. Programs that know the foreign college requirements can set up courses in Japan that will then transfer to the foreign college and help the Japanese student graduate perhaps six months to one year ahead of time. It is important that the teacher checks to make sure that the transfer credits apply directly to college graduation and are not being transferred to the EFL program since this will not help the student to graduate early. In order that the students receive the proper instruction to get the credits they need, the majority of teachers involved in the PSA program should have a Master' s or other advanced degrees. For class credits to transfer, colleges require that courses must be taught by teachers who have, at least, a Master' s Degree in the subject area.
A Proper PSA Curriculum
When a teacher is looking for a course for the student to join, the most important aspect is the curriculum. However, this can be difficult to evaluate because most teachers in Japan have not studied overseas so they may be prone to choose a program which is more EFL oriented instead of more ESP academically oriented. Teachers should remember that the student going overseas not only needs to learn English but also to develop different study skills so they can compete with the other students in the class. Ballard (see Table 1) points out the differences between a good EFL program and the kind of academic program a PSA student needs in order to develop the skills necessary to excel at a foreign university or junior college.
Table1. Contrasting Aims of Language and Academic Class
| Mode: | Language class aims: | Academic class aims: |
| Listening: | total comprehension capacity to "store" whole text attention to discrete language features, e.g pronunciation and sentence construction |
selective of content selective "storage"/ note-taking critical responsiveness to content |
| Speaking: | production of accurate sentences accurate pronunciation and intonation |
Expression of complex ideas raising relevant question/criticisms |
| Reading: | generation of correct linguistic structures manipulation of appropriate registers |
development of ideas command of appropriate style of argument |
| Writing: | generation of correct linguistic structures manipulation of appropriate registers |
development of ideas command of appropriate style of argument |
Listening
Since university teachers convey most of their information through lectures, a student' s listening comprehension is extremely important. Even taping and listening to lectures again becomes difficult if a student is taking three or four courses a week. A PSA course needs to teach students how to recognize important issues and avoid becoming concerned with understanding every single detail of a lecture. The course should also incorporate a note-taking class in conjunction with a listening program, using tapes that are academically oriented to give the students plenty of practice in learning their note-taking skills. Unlike Japanese schools, foreign university professors only write a small part of their lectures on the board, so it is imperative that the student be able to listen and identify the important concepts being talked about and not wait for them to be put on the board.
Speaking
A PSA student will be expected to express their opinions about what has been covered in the lectures and to relate this to the reading assignments. A student is expected to move beyond phrases like "It is interesting" or "I think so too" and to state their opinion as well as to explain their reasoning. A good PSA program should help students to debate and disagree with others. While this may be a challenge for many Japanese students, offering effective criticism in a class discussion reinforces the tenet that students can learn from each other. Also, student participation can be an integral part of a student' s grade.
Because a professor might ask a foreign student to explain the situation in their country, a good PSA speaking program should also help the student to develop good oral presentation skills. Having students give two- or three-minute speeches in class, particularly developing effective cause and effect arguments, will help build their confidence in public speaking.
Reading
Bamford (1993, p. 63) has observed, "that Japanese students have been trained to use a single strategy for dealing with unfamiliar written language: transpose it word-for-word into Japanese." This method slows a student' s reading speed down so much that it could take 30 or 40 minutes to read a single page. Since a foreign university will often have students reading 30 or 40 pages a day in addition to writing several essays summarizing what they have read, it is clear that a PSA course needs to move students away from this word-to-word technique to a skim and scan method that focuses on the main ideas of the story. For example, a program can begin with shorter newspaper type stories so the students can develop their vocabulary along with developing their scanning and speed-reading techniques. At the same time, students should be encouraged to present summaries of their readings and compare them with others. Teachers can then help students to develop and support their own opinions.
Locating resource material in a library is another important aspect a PSA program should cover; students should learn how to access data in electronic formats and to find information in relevant journals and books. This is another reason why a good PSA program should be connected to as few colleges as possible: Information about the library, for example, can be given along with maps and brochures.
Writing
For many subjects, students will need to write well. This skill is often overlooked in secondary education because of the Japanese university exam, which is comprised of multiple choice and short answer questions. Thus, students may never write long essays in Japanese, let alone in English. In fact, the only time a Japanese student writes any kind of research paper will be for a university seminar class, usually in their senior year. Therefore, a final goal of PSA program should include an eight to ten-page typed research paper with corresponding footnotes and bibliography. The writing program should be centered around a process writing style that takes the student from choosing a proper idea, to outlining their papers, writing a first draft, editing the first draft, and then rewriting the first draft into an improved second draft to be submitted for a grade. Emphasis should be placed on having students write in their own words, properly citing any information. At a foreign university, plagiarism is considered a serious offense, so students need to be reminded of this and taught the importance of doing their own work. Kenner (2000, p.26), the course leader of the European Commercial Law Department at the University of Leicester, writes a student caught plagiarizing will in the worse cases, be expelled from the university. This is a policy at all universities and junior colleges, wherever a student may attend.
A writing course should also help prepare students for essay tests that are sometimes given at foreign universities. Most social science courses have essay tests in which the student may have one or two hours to choose three or four topics and then write a two or three-page essay about each topic. Therefore, students need to be taught how to quickly analyze the topic, generate an outline, and then write their essay, drawing information from their notes and the outside readings. A PSA program should gradually develop such skills so that they are able to write two good essays in a 60-minute period.
Cultural Awareness
Besides the importance of academic preparation, a PSA program should review the social customs and morals of the target country; this will solve many cross-cultural problems that can arise in living abroad. Teachers need to discuss serious issues like emergencies (dealing with the police, fire department or going to the hospital) along with problems such as unfriendly roommates, and unhelpful professors. It is important that the student knows where to turn, so they are not left to suffer in silence, but can get the most out of their education at a foreign university.
Conclusion
With more students wishing to go overseas to study, it is important that teachers know more about PSA programs to provide an in-depth orientation so that students can make an informed choice. The transition from a Japanese high school to a foreign university or junior college can be difficult if the student is not well prepared. Thus, any school that is unable to describe its courses or provide information on the students is one to avoid. Since the students will be investing a lot of time and money in this program, it is important that they get their money' s worth out of it. In short, these general guidelines will help high school teachers to find an appropriate PSA course for their students to pursue. After all, there is nothing more disappointing than for someone to spend their time, money, and energy in a program that does not properly prepare them to fulfill their dreams. The better a teacher is prepared to help their students, the better choices the students will make for their future.
References
Ballard, B. (1996). Through Language to Learning: Preparing Overseas Students for Study in Western Universities. In H. Coleman, (Ed.). Society and the Language Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bamford, J. (1993). Beyond Grammar Translation: Teaching Students to Really Read. In P. Wadden, (Ed), London: Oxford University Press.
Wasted Talent. (1997, April, 20). Japan Times. p.14.
Students Here Excel in Areas They Hate. (1996, November 21). Japan Times. p.2.
Kenner, J. (2000). Postgraduate Student Handbook 2000-2002, University of Leicester Press, September 2000.
Richard Shooltz is a lecturer at Tokyo Kasei University, teaching oral communication and reading. He has also taught oral communication in a PSA program that sent students to study in America. <farpoint@gol.com>
Dirk Yuricich was the designer and director of a PSA program for eight years in Tokyo. He taught university study skills, cross-cultural relations, English conversation and listening comprehension for twelve years in Japan and Austria. Presently, he works as a freelance photographer-writer in the United States. <dirklisa@earthlink.net>
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