Institutional Research Projects
The ELI receives annual funding from the Research Institute of Language Studies and Language Education (RILS&LE).
The Publications page lists the latest publications by ELI lecturers in academic journals.
Funding from the RILS&LE has enabled the ELI to establish and formalise ongoing research projects. Based on experience and/or interest, teachers and learning advisors are assigned to one of the ongoing institutional research projects related to curriculum renewal or testing that are housed within the ELI. These are collaborative research projects led by a coordinator(s) and typically consist of 7-8 people. These projects are, for the most part, concerned with the systematic development and trialing of instructional materials to be used within and/or outside of the classroom, and research into practices surrounding the use of these materials.
There are currently 8 institutional research projects:
- Basic English Proficiency Projects (BEPP) [3]
- English Department
- IC Department
- ILC Department
- Skills Projects [2]
- Basic Skills (reading and writing)
- Advanced Skills (reading and writing)
- Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) Project
- Self -Access Learning Centre (SALC) Research Group
- Kanda Assessment Project (KAP)
Overview of the Research Projects
The Basic English Proficiency Project - English (BEPP English)
‘BEPP English’ is a research project centred around the core first-year course for students in the English department: Freshman English. This is an integrated skills, task-based programme organised into thematic units. It aims to improve overall communicative aptitude in students, and as a result, numerous abilities are cultivated that extend beyond strict linguistic competence such as discussion and presentation skills, negotiation of meaning and autonomous learning. ‘BEPP English’ was created and charged to continually improve the effectiveness and diversity of the Freshman curriculum. Besides the functions of materials development, maintenance and renewal, the project is also responsible for conducting research in a variety of areas, often focused around the curriculum, pedagogical practices, language learning or some combination of all three. Project members are encouraged to present their work at both domestic and international conferences and/or seek to publish it in journals.
The Basic English Proficiency Project - International Communication (BEPP IC)
The IC department aims to produce graduates who are competent both with English and computers, and have an awareness of global issues. The BEPP IC project involves research and materials development, with the overall goal of refining the IC English curriculum within this context. Two core task-based proficiency courses are the subject of this research project: English for International Communication I and English for International Communication II. Duties of BEPP IC members include: designing new lesson materials, giving feedback on lesson materials designed by other members, gathering feedback on and updating units. They also carry out pedagogical research on aspects of the curriculum. Members frequently present the results of this research at domestic and international conferences, as well as publish results in journals. BEPP IC research forms the basis for development of new lesson materials, thus further enhancing the curriculum.
The Basic English Proficiency Project – International Languages and Culture (BEPP ILC)
The goal of the BEPP ILC research group is to improve students’ English proficiency mainly through their participation in two core courses: Freshman English and Sophomore English. As in the other BEPP projects, it is through the combination of theoretical research and resulting curriculum development that this goal is achieved. Both of the core courses employ a task-based methodology and aim to foster student motivation and autonomy through the provision of engaging project work. Members also teach other elective courses which further develop the language skills from the core courses. The bulk of the group’s activities takes the form of course planning, materials design, discussion of relevant literature, action research and lesson review. As students in the ILC department study English and another foreign language (Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian or Portuguese), much of the curriculum design has focused on ways to integrate motivating content relevant to the students’ other language studied at KUIS.
Basic Skills Project
First year students in the English department are required to take two specialized proficiency courses: Basic Writing and Basic Reading. The Basic Skills project involves research and materials development for these two courses, and members teach both. A large proportion of the group’s work is concerned with curriculum design and materials development, however this is combined with a wide variety of research. Research topics in recent times have included students’ writing backgrounds, video-mediated peer editing, feedback in an on-line reading course, and the development of a taxonomy of reading comprehension questions. Some of this has been presented at conferences (both international and domestic) and appeared in journals. The Basic Skills group is also responsible for the teacher-led writing centre, a service offered to students who feel that they need an appointment to discuss a piece of writing.
Advanced Skills Project
Second year students in the English department are required to take both Advanced Reading and Advanced Writing and this project focusses on research and materials development in relation to these two courses. Advanced Reading involves two lessons per week and includes both “Intensive Reading” (close reading of shorter texts) and “Extensive Reading” (accessible reading of longer texts, particularly fiction). Advanced Writing focuses on the skill of academic writing, building on Basic Writing and aiming to prepare students for the composition of their graduation theses. Members of this project explore theories of second language reading and writing, conduct research and develop materials for both courses.
Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) Project
The role of CALL is to facilitate, co-ordinate and enhance the use of technology in the various KUIS English curricula, as well as conduct research into the ways in which technology can improve current language teaching practices. In this context, the ELI’s ‘blended learning spaces’ are of particular interest: these are classrooms in which a variety of technology are available, thus creating opportunities for innovative teaching methods and materials design. A major focus has been on the Course Management System known as Moodle, while website design, construction and maintenance will be increasingly emphasized in coming years. All forms of technology have a place in the CALL spectrum – its overarching purpose is to ensure that both teachers and students have maximum support and ongoing assistance in their use of technology and to provide ideas to promote the continued use of technology in curricula.
SALC Research Group (SRG)
The SALC is a world-class Self-Access Learning Centre that has received a Centre of Learning award from the Japanese Ministry of Education as an ‘outstanding distinctive program.’ The ELI is investing time and money into researching the SALC, and the SRG is interested in all things ‘SALC’ (which can include any related areas such as motivation and autonomy). The SRG is a large group consisting of Learning Advisors, SALC staff and classroom teachers. Key areas of research include the SALC’s learning modules, design and use of the learning environment and learning materials created specifically for the SALC. As well as encouraging autonomous learning, the project also investigates ways in which the SALC can support classroom curricula, by providing pathways from courses into the SALC and vice versa.
Kanda Assessment Project (KAP)
KAP has two basic streams of research, KEPT, a dynamic test of English which has been in operation at KUIS since 1989, and a classroom assessment project which is in its early stages of development. KEPT is administered to incoming first year students in March and end-of-year first and second year students in January. The test aims to assess communicative English language ability and is created by members of the KEPT team. This process involves such diverse tasks as script writing, video production, and task design. The KEPT team also conducts statistical analysis of test data and investigates best assessment practices in the field of language teaching. The goals of the classroom assessment project are to work with teachers of particular courses and learning advisors in designing and implementing valid and reliable assessment practices that are in line with current conceptions of language learning and assessment. Project members work to align course learning objectives, content, and assessments. A member of the KAP project may be someone who has a particular interest in assessment, or knows little about this area but is interested in receiving a professional apprenticeship.
Further details about each of these projects are available in the respective progress reports in the latest edition of the RILS & LE Journal on Studies in Linguistics and Language Teaching or from the current coordinator(s).
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