Track: Engineering Education

Abstract

This study describes that how to develop an effective ESP (English for Specific Purposes) curriculum by using analysis with NIRS (near-infrared spectroscopy) for engineering students from the viewpoint of brain science and educational technology. ESP is often defined as English language teaching which is designed to meet specified needs and related in content to particular disciplines, occupations and activities of learners in contrast with general English. Recently, it has been noted that Japanese students’ English skills were declining. Therefore, designing and developing an effective course design to meet ESP goals: to develop global engineers who can work in the English-only professional settings, for acquiring English communication skills has been a critical need. To solve this concern, the present study examined the effectiveness of analysis using NIRS for ESP listening and shadowing training from the perspective of brain science and educational technology. NIRS is widely recognized as a practical non-invasive optical technique to detect characteristic of hemoglobin density dynamics response during functional activation of the cerebral cortex. The more the amount of blood flows, the more hemoglobin oxygenation gains; measuring the amount of blood can show the state of brain activation induced by the differences of trainings and learners’ characteristics. From the experimental, the well-matched combination of training for Japanese engineering students has been suggested and contributed to develop an effective ESP curriculum.