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English language education in Japanese dental schools
Author(s) -
Morse Zac,
Nakahara Sen
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
european journal of dental education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.583
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1600-0579
pISSN - 1396-5883
DOI - 10.1034/j.1600-0579.2001.50405.x
Subject(s) - english language , quality (philosophy) , dental education , medical education , affect (linguistics) , foreign language , first language , medicine , the internet , psychology , pedagogy , mathematics education , computer science , philosophy , communication , epistemology , pathology , world wide web
English is the common language of international scientific and cultural exchange. As the world becomes more globalized and with increasing dependence on the Internet, English becomes increasingly important as a second language. English is the official language for all international associations, societies, organizations etc and their meetings and publications. High quality international collaboration usually requires a high standard of English language proficiency. There is very little information regarding English language education in dentistry on a global basis, particularly in Japan. In 1999 we undertook a comprehensive survey of English education in all 29 Japanese dental schools in the form of a questionnaire. Few schools had native‐speaking educators or those at native speaker level and most did not have a background in dentistry or the health sciences. There are no ideal textbooks for dental students studying English. Most disciplines within dentistry have a professional society or an association with meetings and publications. Currently there is no such group for English‐language education in dentistry. Closer collaboration amongst those concerned may help improve the quality of education. The level of English‐language ability of current dental students will affect the quality of future dental educators and researchers.