Fukuoka Chapter

Mita Start-up
Plans for dealing with large classes for Medical English

Christine Kuramoto
Kyushu University

7 March 2008

In the fall of 2008, Kyushu University Department of Medical Education’s medical English program will be underway. Beginning with approximately 120 second year medical and biomedical science students, the program poses various problems for language learning. Presently there is only one medical English teacher in charge of the large group that is blocked in for weekly classes over a 15 week period.

The ideal number of learners per class for language acquisition is generally thought to be quite small. Horne (1970) put the optimal number of students for foreign language classes at a very low 5 to9 students, and Locastro (1989) reported that Japanese college students preferred classes of between 11 and 20 students.

“In foreign language classrooms, Horne (1970) indicated that the optimal class size for foreign language instruction is between 5 and 9 students. Locastro (1989) reported that Japanese college students preferred classes of 11-20. Johnson (2001) recommended classes with not more than 20 students.” (as cited in Al-Jarf, literature review section)

Considering the resources available to us and the goal of providing an optimum language learning environment for the students, a plan has been made to incorporate Team Based Learning (TBL) into an omnibus system to bring us closer to an ideal environment. The omnibus system has been modeled after the system in effect at Okayama University for Medical English. After an initial orientation class, the students who have been split into two groups of 60 will attend 6 English lessons then have an exam followed by 6 medical English workshops with medical doctors including one class period for a presentation by students.

To further improve the learning environment, the 60 students will be split into teams of approximately 6 students each. The teams will be formed on the basis of TOEFL scores with a goal of evenly dispersing students throughout each team (a variety of levels in each group). This decision was based on the advice of Tokyo Medical University medical English professors who had tried dividing classes according to ability, but found it was less beneficial to students than dispersing ability levels more evenly in each class (Breugelmans, 2007 personal communication). Team Based Learning experts also point to equally distributed “assets” to form optimal teams.

“In order to function as effectively as possible, each group should have access to whatever assets exist within the whole class and not carry more than a “fair share” of the liabilities. Member assets might include such things as: full-time work experience, previous relevant course work, access to perspectives from other cultures, etc. Member liabilities may be in the form of negative attitudes towards the course, limited fluency in English, no previous relevant course work, etc. When relevant member assets, liabilities, and characteristics are evenly distributed, learning teams will work more effectively.” (Michaelsen)

The English lessons will take place in a classroom where students can sit around a table with their team to facilitate optimum discussion positions for each team member. This was the arrangement I observed at Tokyo Medical University in November of 2007 and it appeared to be very effective.

Even with the numbers cut down to 60, there will still be difficulties in managing such a large group of students. To deal with attendance difficulties as well as problems with remembering student names, each student will be required to make a name card. In past classes, name cards have been found to be a simple yet valuable tool to myself as well as others (Holmes, 2002; Brown 2001) . Students will write the name they wish to be called by in large letters on the outside and their full name in Japanese and Roman alphabet on the inside along with their student ID number and the dates of each time the class is to meet. Students receive their card at the beginning of each class and those cards left uncollected will be marked as absent. At the end of class, students will return the cards and receive a stamp next to that days date in their cards for attendance.

Although this plan is far from ideal, it is a coping strategy for a program in its infancy. I hope to report on our progress in the future.

References:

• Brown, Rob A. 2001. Name Cards for Monitoring Attendance and Motivating Students The Language Teacher, Sept. (Accessed March 2007)
• Holmes, Christopher 2002. The medical English program at Hongo, The University of Tokyo’s Faculty of Medicine MITA. (Accessed November, 2007)
• Michaelson, Larry K. Getting started with Team Based Learning (Accessed January, 2008)

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