• Nearly 20% of the 263 respondents lived abroad for an average of 5.2 years.
• Slightly more than half of them in America and the remainder in the UK, Germany, South Africa, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Italy, Indonesia, Argentina, and Spain.
• Only 11 of them went to Japanese schools when abroad.
• The majority attended local schools or international schools where the medium of instruction was English.

Although there turned out to be varying interest in documentaries, a larger percentage of students were more negative about them than about any other category of content (28% weren't interested in them or weren't AT ALL interested in them). Looking through the current IE Listening texts, we see that approximately half of the non-musical IE I and II units feature documentaries, and 9 out of 14 units in IE III offer clips from documentaries. There is relatively more interest in current events and MUCH greater interest in movies (with 96% of students interested or interested very much), pop songs (89%), and TV dramas (88%). So we are clearly going to have to reconsider the balance of materials we've been including in the program. We would like to provide students with materials that will maximize their interest and, hence, motivation.

It's rather disappointing that larger percentages of students did not feel confident in accomplishing the items on the list in Ques. #12. The only one for which a majority of students expressed confidence was in "giving directions to foreigners on the street." We hope to make improvements to the Listening Section, and in the other parts of the IE Program, so that more students will be able to confidently express themselves and comprehend English.

The fact that the majority of students (62.3%) felt that IE Listening was "helpful" or "very helpful" shows that we are not totally off track, but there is much more that we can do to improve the program and your valuable feedback has helped us. From last year, songs and news materials were added. Some teachers have begun to require that students keep "listening journals" and report on outside-of-class exposure to audiovisual content of their choice. The Media Library helped us to make a number of units of the IE Listening texts accessible through the LAN for online self-study. We are now looking into making materials available for portable MP3/video devices, such as the iPod. We feel that online learning and the use of mobile devices for listening practice might be important in meeting the valid concern by 36.5% of respondents who felt that one of the problems with IE Listening was "insufficient class time to listen to English."

Thank you again for your participation in this research and I wish you a joyful summer holiday!

Sincerely,
Joseph Dias
IE Program Coordinator

1. Age   Response Percent Response Total     18 22.1% 58     19 47.5% 125     20 25.5% 67     21 2.7% 7     22 (or over) 2.3% 6 Total Respondents   263 (skipped this question)   0

2. sex   Response Percent Response Total     male 18.6% 49     female 81.4% 214 Total Respondents   263 (skipped this question)   0

3. Present IE Level   Response Percent Response Total     I 0.4% 1     II 66.9% 176     III 11% 29     seminar 21.7% 57 Total Respondents   263 (skipped this question)   0

4. IE Level at which you began   Response Percent Response Total     I 78.3% 206     II 9.5% 25     III 9.5% 25     seminar 2.7% 7 Total Respondents   263 (skipped this question)   0

5. Have you lived abroad for more than a year?   Response Percent Response Total     no 81% 213     yes 19% 50 Total Respondents   263 (skipped this question)   0

9. What would you like to do in the future using English? Please click on 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1 to indicate which applies to you most. Interested very much Interested neutral Not interested Not interested at all Response Average Travel 81% (213) 16% (43) 2% (5) 1% (2) 0% (0) 1.22 Study abroad 60% (158) 17% (46) 14% (38) 6% (17) 2% (4) 1.72 Work in foreign companies 38% (100) 32% (83) 17% (45) 11% (30) 2% (5) 2.08 Live in foreign countries 55% (144) 25% (65) 16% (42) 3% (9) 1% (3) 1.71 Teach at school 16% (41) 15% (39) 19% (50) 32% (83) 19% (50) 3.24 Watch movies for fun 68% (178) 24% (63) 8% (20) 0% (1) 0% (1) 1.42 Use at work in Japanese companies 43% (113) 29% (77) 19% (50) 6% (16) 3% (7) 1.96 Interpretation/translation 18% (48) 23% (61) 31% (81) 22% (59) 5% (14) 2.73 Talk with friends casually 35% (91) 33% (86) 20% (52) 11% (30) 2% (4) 2.13 Read English books/magagines for fun 51% (133) 32% (83) 12% (31) 6% (15) 0% (1) 1.74 Read something academic 17% (45) 20% (53) 28% (74) 24% (64) 10% (27) 2.90 Total Respondents   260 (skipped this question)   0

10. What kinds of things do you have a hard time with when you listen to English in the classroom? Please click on 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1 to indicate which applies to you most. Strongly agree agree neutral disagree strongly disagree Response Average Unknown vocabulary 29% (75) 36% (94) 24% (63) 10% (27) 2% (4) 2.21 Speed too fast 29% (77) 24% (64) 26% (69) 15% (40) 5% (13) 2.42 Colloquial phrases, jokes 33% (87) 31% (82) 21% (55) 11% (29) 4% (10) 2.21 The segment of the film is too long; hard to concentrate 13% (34) 24% (62) 31% (82) 25% (66) 7% (19) 2.90 Task sheet is monotonous 12% (31) 15% (40) 32% (84) 37% (98) 4% (10) 3.06 Different accents of the speakers 19% (50) 27% (72) 32% (83) 19% (51) 3% (7) 2.59 Connected sounds unique in English 33% (88) 29% (75) 18% (47) 14% (38) 6% (15) 2.30 Total Respondents   260 (skipped this question)   0

11. What kinds of materials would you prefer to listen to in your IE Listening class? Please click on 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1 to indicate which applies to you most. interested very much Interested neutral Not interested Not interested at all Response Average Movies 77% (203) 19% (49) 4% (10) 0% (0) 0% (1) 1.28 TV dramas in English 60% (157) 28% (73) 9% (24) 2% (6) 1% (3) 1.57 Documentaries, educational programs 15% (40) 29% (77) 28% (73) 20% (53) 8% (20) 2.76 Current news such as CNN or ABC news 29% (76) 32% (85) 27% (70) 7% (19) 5% (13) 2.27 Pop songs 65% (172) 24% (62) 9% (23) 2% (5) 0% (1) 1.48 Total Respondents   260 (skipped this question)   0

12. What can you do using English now? Please mark all that apply to you.   Response Percent Response Total   Very little 19.2% 50   Give directions on the street to foreigners 71.2% 185   Talk with the teacher in class 36.9% 96   Hold a conversation with a foreigner 47.7% 124   Understand an English movie without subtitles 17.7% 46   Understand news shows such as CNN or ABC 10% 26   Live abroad communicating solely in English 11.2% 29   Other (Please specify) 2.3% 6 Total Respondents   260 (skipped this question)   0

13. What kinds of complaints or problems do you have concerning your IE listening class? Please mark all that apply to you.   Response Percent Response Total   None 20.4% 53   Insufficient class time (90 minutes per week) to listen to English 36.5% 95   Too many students in the class 13.8% 36   Not enough variety in the video materials 33.8% 88   Too much focus on difficult vocabulary 11.5% 30   Insufficient focus on daily conversation skills 34.2% 89   One way nature of the class (i.e., too 'teacher-centered') 23.1% 60   Other (Specify) 13.5% 35 Total Respondents   260 (skipped this question)   0

14. How helpful do you consider your IE listening class? Please click on 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1 to indicate which applies to you most.   Response Percent Response Total     Very helpful 9.1% 24     Helpful 53.2% 140     neutral 26.6% 70     Not helpful 9.1% 24     Not helpful at all 1.9% 5 Total Respondents   263 (skipped this question)   0

15. Which ideas do you agree with on improving the IE Listening course? Please click on 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1 to indicate which applies to you most. strongly agree agree neutral disagree strongly disagree Response Average To give students a tape from the class to listen to and review 30% (80) 29% (75) 28% (73) 11% (30) 2% (5) 2.26 To give students the scripts after watching the video in class 37% (97) 34% (90) 21% (54) 7% (18) 2% (4) 2.02 To use popular songs in class 52% (137) 26% (69) 16% (42) 5% (12) 1% (3) 1.76 To focus more on daily conversational skills 51% (135) 33% (86) 14% (38) 1% (2) 1% (2) 1.67 To give some listening homework assignments 14% (38) 24% (62) 33% (86) 21% (56) 8% (21) 2.85 To use a greater variety of videos 53% (139) 32% (84) 14% (38) 0% (1) 0% (1) 1.63 To use English for all the instruction 19% (49) 24% (64) 28% (74) 23% (61) 6% (15) 2.73 Total Respondents   260 (skipped this question)   0