中部大学教育研究2022

57/89

fulfillthetwo-yearEnglishlanguagerequirementforroboticengineeringstudents.ThemaingoalwastohelpstudentslearnpracticalEnglishforthepurposeofutilizingitintheirfuturecareersinrobotics.Otheraimsincludeincreasingopportunitiesforstudentstolearntogether,asthefieldofroboticsengineeringoftenrequirescollaborationsamongmanyworkers,andhelpingtofamiliarizestudentswithusingcomputertechnologyforthepurposesoflearningandcommunicating.StudentsenteringthecoursemostlyhaveabeginnerlevelorlowerproficiencyinEnglishandaretypicallynotconfidentabouttheirownabilitytobecomeanEnglishspeaker.Fewareabletosuccessfullyself-regulatetheirEnglishstudyandmostlackthemotivationtotryself-study.Intheinitialyearoftheprogramin2014,roughly99%（n=80）oftheincomingfreshmenreportedthattheyfelteitheranxiousorreluctanttolearnEnglish.Moreover,manyofthestudentsenteringtheprogramstillreportthattheyfeelanxietywhenitcomestolearningEnglishasevidencedbytheincomingfreshmenstudentsof2021infigure1belowwhere73%ofstudentsindicatedbeingeither“alittleanxious”or“veryanxious”aboutlearningEnglishbeforeenrollingattheuniversity.Inordertoaccommodatethestudents’needs,severalmoregoalswereaddedtothecourse.First,istocreateafoundationofbasicEnglishskillsforthestudentstobuilduponandincreasetheircommunicativeabilities.Second,istohelpeasethestudents’anxietyandreplaceitwithconfidenceintheirabilitytolearnEnglish.Third,istoteachstudentsgoodstudyhabitssotheycangrowintoself-regulatedlearners.2.1Pre-COVIDCurriculumDesignThecurriculumisablended-learningmodelthatutilizesanonlinelisteningandspeakingtrainingapplicationcalledATRCALLBrix,aweb-basedlearningplatformwithalearningmanagementsystem（LMS）calledGlexa,andtwoface-to-facelessonsthatworkintandemtoreachlearningtargetsinthecourses.Inaddition,thecurriculumalsoutilizesco-teachingwithaJapanesenativeteacher（JNT）andanEnglishnativeteacher（ENT）.Studentsareseparatedintofourdifferentlevelsbasedonstandardizedtestscoresandteacherevaluations.Duetoconcernsthatstudentsmightnotbeabletostayfocusedforafull90-minuteclass,theclassesaredividedintotwo45-minutesessions:aclasswiththeJNTfocusedoninputandaworkshopwiththeENTfocusedonoutput.Freshmenalsoattendacomputer-assistedlanguagelearning（CALL）courseforanextra90minutesperweekwiththeJNT.Thisset-upcanbeseeninfigure2.Blendingtheonlineandface-to-facestudyisdoneinacyclicalmannertohelpreinforceeachlearningtargetandscaffoldeachlearningactivityintothenext.Inthelong-term,thiscycletakesclassroomactivities,cyclesthemintoself-regulatedlearning（SRL）activities,andthenJournalofChubuUniversityEducationNo.22（2022）―54―Figure1:AnxietyfelttowardlearningEnglishbeforeenteringuniversity（Oguri&Allen,2021）Figure2:Learningstructure2014-2019,2022