I am happy to announce that the third PhD graduate has emerged from the Yamada Laboratory!! It is Mrs. Hao, an Academic Research Assistant. I am truly delighted for her. Her research theme was on the design of Japanese CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) lessons for higher education in China. She conducted three practical sessions in China; the first was a conventional Japanese language class (not CLIL), while the second and third sessions involved designing CLIL and verifying those designs. The first session was primarily lecture-style, from which she extracted challenges for transitioning to CLIL, developed them into the second and third sessions, and examined the design elements of CLIL.

Since designing from scratch is difficult, she proceeded with the design using the “4Cs” of CLIL as a starting point, combined with Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction from the field of instructional design. She conducted multifaceted analyses using questionnaires, transcripts from group work, worksheets, and tests. Finally, she created a Japanese CLIL design element checklist derived from the three practical sessions and conducted checks on its usefulness and validity through expert reviews. I would like to thank the professors who participated in the expert reviews.

However, it was a long journey. Including a leave of absence, was it six years of struggle? Or seven? It was quite a challenge… (laughs). But I am truly glad it turned into such good research. After returning to her home country, she will not be pursuing an academic career but will instead work for a news agency. I look forward to her continued success in the future. She worked very hard this time. Congratulations!!