Yu Yan’s research while affiliated with Tama University and other places

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Publications (4)


An overview of supplementary teaching materials for advanced EST students in Japan
  • Conference Paper

August 2015

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43 Reads

Yu Yan

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EST (English for Science and Technology) is an important area of ESP in Japan. The success of EST courses for science and technology/engineering disciplines is partially dependent on the choices of teaching materials. As shown in previous research done by the same presenters of this study in ICAMechs 2014, the quantity of teaching materials for lower and intermediate levels of EST courses in Japan is considered to be satisfactory though the concerns over the quality and variations of technical disciplines still exist. This research is a continuation of the investigation of teaching materials for EST courses in Japan with a focus on the supplementary or reference materials for advanced students of EST at Japanese universities. This study aims to conduct an overview of the market available reference books for advanced EST students at Japanese universities. The categories of the overview include languages used, publication information, main content themes/topics and/or skills, target audience/level of English, and length.



The assessment of the vocabulary size of Japanese university students of science and engineering in an ESP program

August 2014

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51 Reads

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2 Citations

Linguistic competences are of foremost importance to students in ESP (English for Specific Purposes) programs where they receive training in areas such as vocabulary, sentence structure and rhetoric norms common to science engineering fields in order to function professionally in English in an increasingly international environment. To achieve this goal, students have to be nurtured in field-specific language contexts-an aim which is more focused than General English or English for Academic Purposes approaches. To this end, ESP instructors attempt to find effective methods to analyze student abilities and tailor materials suited to their needs and level of proficiency. This paper describes the first part of a longitudinal project which aims to improve vocabulary development of third-year science engineering students in a Japanese university. In this pilot study, one third of the classes of undergraduate Technical English were given the vocabulary size test developed by Paul Nation and David Beglar (2007) to gauge students' approximate vocabulary size for general English reading. The 30-minute test was administered in class via the university's e-learning system (WebClass UEC) to expedite the compiling of results. This presentation reports the background and rationale for using this particular measurement, the holistic results of the pilot assessment, the analysis of the correlations and deviations between departments, and the implications of these similarities and differences. In addition, these results will be used for deciding on the level from which to develop teaching materials to bridge the gaps that may appear in students' semi-technical and technical lexical repertoire. In future studies, these results will be correlated with TOEIC scores of the same students, as well as the results of other academic and specialized technical word lists.


A critical analysis of the ESP textbooks for Japanese university students of science and engineering

August 2014

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50 Reads

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3 Citations

The appropriateness of teaching materials for ESP (English for Specific Purposes) courses is one of the most crucial aspects of ESP courses. However, ESP courses range from general ESP courses to highly technical ones depending on the needs of students as well as institutions. Some courses are heterogeneous classes with students of different disciplines whereas others are more homogeneous with students of same or similar majors or research areas. Choices of textbooks for the former type of classes could be of more general and diverse but not for the latter type that requires specific teaching materials for the specific majors of study. The development of specific teaching materials for both types of classes is equally challenging in varied aspects. The ESP practitioners without the specific technical knowledge of the disciplines and fields of research of the students naturally resort to using ready-made textbooks in the market, which could satisfy the needs of the mixed classes. Hence, it is of crucial importance that appropriate textbooks are selected. This study reports the results of a systematic overview and evaluation of the bestselling textbooks for EST (English for Science and Technology) courses at tertiary level in Japan. The methods of the overview are based on the following categories: types of syllabuses, pedagogy (exercises, activities, projects, etc.), content areas, medium of instruction, level of proficiency and technicality, supplementary documents such as index, appendices and glossary, and target students.

Citations (3)


... Despite studies of examining an increase of vocabulary size (VS) for ELL with widely used vocabulary lists such as GSL, AWL, NGSL, (e.g., Nation & Belgar, 2007;Shin'ichi, Yan, Jie, & Haiyan, 2015;Shin, Chon & Kim, 2011), in relation to the purpose of the current study, there is a need for research available on the changes in receptive written VS (deliberate or incidental) of English language learners in Japan and a relationship with university-wide reading courses, particularly in connection to the changes from the beginning of a 15-week semester to the end, with analysis of the type of vocabulary that has been taught, and varying pedagogical approaches. As such, this study on variations of university ELLs' VS through completing a university-wide reading course is needed to guide practitioners in the field as to the type of pedagogy that need to be incorporated into instructional materials when facilitating reading classes, which could increase VS. ...

Reference:

Towards Increasing English Learners' Receptive Vocabulary Size through a university-wide Reading Course: Assessment, Approaches and Implications
Profiling Japanese EST students' vocabulary ability using the New General Service List Test (NGSLT) and the New Academic Word List Test (NAWLT)
  • Citing Conference Paper
  • August 2015

... This is compatible with Febriantini and Prayogo (2020), who found that ESP teachers had positive perceptions towards the content of their assigned ESP textbook. In general, according to Yan and Jie (2014), ESP textbooks must align with specific discipline requirements. Moreover, according to Koenig and Guertler (2018), grading ESP content by proficiency level enhances relevance and effectiveness. ...

A critical analysis of the ESP textbooks for Japanese university students of science and engineering
  • Citing Conference Paper
  • August 2014

... For better performance, the grasp of vocabulary is considered an important part of every aspect of language knowledge (Daller et al., 2007), especially in teaching and learning English as a second or foreign language as "the literature reveals a strong relationship between EFL learners' vocabulary knowledge and language skills" (Al- Masrai & Milton, 2012, p.14). Since vocabulary is the "building block of language" (Schmitt et al., 2001, p.55), acquisition of a wide range of vocabulary is essential for students to perform better in listening, speaking, reading, and writing (Nation, 1993;Nation, 2001;Shinichi et al., 2014). This also includes other areas of communication and language use such as pragmatics (Wilson & Bishop, 2021), English for specific and academic purposes (Nagy & Townsend, 2012), mathematical learning (Riccomini et al., 2015) and semiotics (Hişmanoğlu, 2005;Valtolina et al., 2012), among others. ...

The assessment of the vocabulary size of Japanese university students of science and engineering in an ESP program
  • Citing Conference Paper
  • August 2014