LEIS English web

2011.6.1

The Graduate School of Language Education and Information Science at Ritsusmeikan University was founded on the 1st of April, 2003, under the　sanction of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. We would like to express our hearty appreciation to those who helped us from various capacities, including those related to universities, local public school systems, boards of education, enterprises, and so on.

Needless to say, globalization and IT (Information Technology) are the two key words which have come to symbolize our present society. With the progress in IT and the internationalization speeded up thereby, the educational policy in our country is now being greatly transformed. The Ministry of Education announced an idea of developing a strategic plan to cultivate “Japanese with English Abilities” in July 12, 2002. This included various special measures such as establishing about 100 “Super English High Schools” in 3 years or focusing support on universities that are developing/ implementing exceptional English education curriculum, particularly on universities (or faculties) where all subjects are taught in English. In addition, targets for the expected English language abilities of English teachers are set up concretely by TOEFL and TOEIC scores. Such measures as these to accommodate the needs of internationalization require not only practical skills in English but are closely related to intercultural understanding necessary for cohabitation in the multicultural societies.

When you direct your eyes to the Japanese society from this viewpoint, you will notice that the number of those in need of Japanese language education, including not only foreign students but also foreign laborers with their dependents, is rapidly and constantly increasing. We have to work positively to establish full-fledged Japanese education for the non-native speakers of Japanese. Japanese language education is also needed in overseas countries where Japanese is now introduced in secondary education. Thus the present day witnesses great changes in the circumstances of Japanese language education, too.

To meet such needs as these, LEIS was founded as a professional school that combines the study of language instruction, linguistics and communication studies and provides high level training for future Japanese and English language instructors who plan to teach both at home and abroad. It also trains professionals who are versed in sociolinguistic field work or computer-aided corpus linguistics. For working professionals, the program offers evening and weekend classes in a special 2-year program together with the Distance Education system, which allows you to take classes in real time at our locations in Osaka, Kyoto and Shiga. The program also emphasizes practical training and offers practicums both at home and abroad. For those majoring in English language education, a TESL certificate can be obtained from the University of British Columbia upon completion of the requirements.

So there are plenty of promising opportunities awaiting both those fresh from the undergraduate programs and those currently holding jobs of one kind or another. We are looking forward to your challenge to this new attempt and are waiting for you to join in our endeavor.