This poster describes a multi-year process that involved revising the outcomes of the first and second year courses in the English language institute of a university in Japan starting in 2020. To produce culturally and linguistically diverse students (Johnson et al. 2015), the curriculum was designed around a Multiliteracies framework (New London Group, 1996). Utilizing a distributed leadership approach (Hallinger & Huber, 2012; Spillane, 2006) the revision process has included various levels of stakeholders within the institute, from beginning lecturers to management. Resulting collaboration led to the production of more specific outcomes and later identification and correction of gaps and redundancies across courses, resulting in a more streamlined program. In consideration of a student’s entire four-year learning experience, third and fourth year content-based elective courses were also taken into account by modeling the new outcomes on the required format for those courses. The main purpose of the project was to give teachers a clearer understanding of eight overarching outcomes that frame the curriculum, giving instructors the tools to better teach their courses and, consequently, improve student learning outcomes. Student-friendly versions of the outcomes are in development in order to get student feedback on their understanding of the outcomes and how well they are being achieved. We will present an overview of the multi-step process and explain how the different stakeholders were involved at each stage, as well as how we plan to address continuing challenges for teachers and students.

Authors:
Kathryn Jurns, Kanda University of International Studies, Japan
Phoebe Lyon, Kanda University of International Studies, Japan
Alexander Ito Maitland, Kanda University of International Studies, Japan

About the Presenter(s)
Phoebe Lyon is a Principal Lecturer for Curriculum and Assessment and lecturer in the ELI at Kanda University of International Studies, Japan. Her research interests include learner autonomy, learner identity and curriculum and materials development.

Connect on ResearchGate
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Phoebe-Lyon-2

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