Characteristics of undergraduate dental students in Japan: English competency and willingness to study abroad

Abstract

Japanese educational authorities and dental schools may need to consider a range of incentives and motivational strategies to nurture clinicians, educators and researchers who can function confidently in an increasingly borderless world. These could include increasing exposure to English language skills through mandatory lectures and seminars in English, increasing the range of inbound international students through student exchange programmes and encouraging students to develop and communicate with international colleagues. The Faculty of Dentistry at Tokyo Medical and Dental University has begun to increase exposure of students to English through the regular curriculum. Outcomes will be followed and evaluated.

Study of factors related to the attitudes toward studying abroad among preclinical/clinical undergraduate dental students at three dental schools in Japan

“…Thus, it may be important to focus on why the more less‐open dental students did not go to study abroad in order to better encourage them to do so. Considering about the concerns of less‐open students in this study, providing experience with English and “international friends” could be one method for helping students develop their confidence, as has been reported in the past (Takehara et al, ). Additionally, the less‐open students were concerned with costs and specialized knowledge required to study abroad to the same level as open students.…”

Inserção no mundo do trabalho odontológico: percepção de graduandos em Odontologia sobre habilidades adquiridas e expectativas

“…Os dados encontrados quanto à proficiência em idiomas revelam dificuldade dos estudantes para comunicação em línguas estrangeiras, o que pode representar potencial barreira frente ao processo de atualização científica ou internacionalização da Odontologia [21][22][23] . Embora não seja a língua oficial da maioria dos países europeus e latino-americanos, a língua inglesa é comum ao intercâmbio científico e cultural, sendo, portanto, importante como segundo idioma.…”

“…Na Arábia Saudita, pesquisadores constataram a necessidade de maior foco ao ensino da língua inglesa na educação préuniversitária de estudantes de Odontologia a fim de melhor prepará-los aos desafios da educação universitária 24 . Da mesma forma, com o objetivo de aprofundar o conhecimento das motivações de estudantes japoneses e fornecer informações a respeito da internacionalização da Odontologia, estudos concluíram que são necessários incentivos e estratégias motivacionais para formar clínicos, educadores e pesquisadores atuantes em um mundo sem fronteiras 22,23 .…”

The Evaluation of Dental English Education in China Based on ‘Guanghua Cup’ International Clinical Skill Exhibition Activity

“…5 Study showed that in non-English speaking country such as Japan, the competency and con dence in the English language could be one of the biggest obstacles for dental students to study abroad. 6 Poor English ability may limit the possibility of career path for the dental students. Therefore, a better dental English education mode should be discussed to meet the demand of English application in Chinese dental students.…”