Rehabilitation English
Richard Caraker
Health Science University
14 March 2007
In 2006 Health Science University (HSU) in Yamanashi Prefecture began establishing a content-based English curriculum for the students in its departments of physical therapy, occupational therapy and social welfare/psychology. The English Department at HSU, working in close cooperation with specialists responsible for providing science and rehabilitation-based materials, is developing a series of textbooks, audio visual materials and dictionaries for the first-and second-year required English curriculum.
The curriculum for first-year English consists of one textbook for the three departments of physical therapy, occupational therapy and social welfare/psychology. Three specialized textbooks for second-year English will be used – one for each department.
Grading of Content
The content of the textbook for first-year required English is graded from lower difficulty in the beginning units to higher difficulty towards the end. In addition, the content progresses from less science oriented material in the initial units to more technical and major-specific content towards the end.
| Unit 1 Introduction | ||
| Lesson 1 Introducing Yourself | 1 | |
| Lesson 2 Introducing Your Major | 4 | |
| Lesson 3 Introducing Your Job | 8 | |
| Lesson 4 Everything Has Its Own Name -Helen Keller- | 20 | |
Unit 2 Our Body |
||
| Lesson 1 | 28 | |
| Lesson 2 | 32 | |
| Lesson 3 | 35 | |
Unit 3 Basic Medicine |
||
| Lesson 1 Meet Your Muscle | 37 | |
| Lesson 2 Bones and Muscles | 40 | |
| Lesson 3 Blood (1) | 45 | |
| Lesson 4 Blood (2) | 50 | |
Unit 4 In The Doctor's Office |
||
| Lesson 1 Medical History | 54 | |
| Lesson 2 Family History | 58 | |
| Lesson 3 Social History | 62 | |
| Lesson 4 Talking About Pain | 68 | |
Unit 5 Rehabilitation, Care, and Support |
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| Lesson 1 Alcoholism | 73 | |
| Lesson 2 Geriatrics | 79 | |
| Lesson 3 Physical Therapy | 86 | |
Skills
It was decided that all students should have a good knowledge of technical terms related to rehabilitation science. In addition, they should have knowledge of laypersons’ terminology as well as fundamental communication skills. The students practice medical interviewing, extracting information from case studies, and listening to interactions between rehabilitation specialists and care providers and their clients.
Textbook Development
The earlier sections of the textbook were written by the staff of the English Department. However, much of the textbook was developed using materials provided by specialists in occupational therapy, physical therapy, social welfare, anatomy and physiology. The original text from the specialists was translated into English, and then modified for teaching with various vocabulary, listening, and reading comprehension exercises.
Audio Visual Materials
Native English speakers specializing in rehabilitation and care will be invited to HSU. Their speeches will be videotaped, subtitles added, and made available to students both in and outside of the classroom.