Localization and Globalization of Higher Education : Teaching in English in Japan, Thailand and Taiwan

In this age of globalization, some people advocate that professors should teach disciplines in English. Is it necessary to teach in English in the classes where most students are Japanese? I recently had the chance to visit universities in Thailand and Taiwan. The faculties of these universities are also faced with this problem of teaching in English. Many Asian countries have succeeded in economic growth in the last decade. In these countries, at fi rst, higher education was done in English, and then they changed to their own languages. This localization of higher education has contributed to the training of large workforces with professional knowledge. Today, professors as well as university graduates are expected to communicate in English. Therefore, people may think that at least some courses should be taught in English. We cannot help think that it is necessary to teach in English in universities. Otherwise, we will fall behind in the global competition in the advancement of higher education. However, the English of most Japanese professors is not good enough to teach classes, because they did not have chances to learn how to teach in English. This is the case with all the countries where English is not an offi cial language in higher education. The PFF workshop held in July this year at Hokkaido University is an experiment to teach future faculty members how to teach in English