Teacher guidebooks. Overthe 29 years that the IEP has been operating, we have gradually developed a series of course syllabi which we review and revise annually in light of teacher and student comments and contributions, requests from the English Department, and input from the IE Committee. To ensure continuity when new teachers join the program, or when there are changes to courses, we issue a series of Scope and Sequence documents for IE Core and IE Writing, Active Listening, and Academic Writing. These provide teachers with course goals and objectives, grading criteria, suggestions for lessons, and resources. We expect teachers to follow the Scope and Sequence documents as closely as possible so that we can all work effectively together. For example, teachers in an IE level II Writing course, need to know that students coming to the classes have been taught the basics of paragraph structure, principles of organization and certain grammatical structures outlined in IE Writing I. We require teachers to follow the Scope and Sequence documents as closely as possible.
Student course books. Over time, and with many contributions from teachers in the IEP, we have developed a series of student workbooks. These contain lessons and other resources for teaching IE courses. Among these resources are samples of student writing assignments which provide an excellent resource for teaching writing. The samples provide students with examples appropriate to their abilities and interests. The Scope and Sequence for IE Core classes describes how to teach two key tasks in the IE Core classes: the small group discussion based on newspaper summaries and the book review and use of literary terms in analysis of books.
The IE Core and Writing booklet, a hard copy of which is sold at the Kobaikai, is designed to be used for students in IE Core and Writing classes at all three levels. It is meant as a classroom resource, so that teachers do not have to make so many photocopies. It serves as a means of linking different teachers and classes together by providing a base of materials. By requiring students to bring their booklets to class, teachers have a ready resource to draw from to explain tasks to students, to assign homework, and to effectively use class time. There are many short activities that can be used in class.
IEP Website, IEP Texts, IE Google Group. The English Department provides a special English website for program announcements, upcoming educational conferences, and links to different resources. Teachers are strongly encouraged to regularly visit it and to contribute appropriate announcements. We also encourage teachers to use it to provide information about their classes, particularly their seminars.The website can be found at https://aogaku-daku.org/. All current versions of teacher guidebooks and student booklets can be downloaded from this website. An archive of all the articles that IE teachers have contributed to the department’s journal Thought Currents in English Literature can also be found there.
Finally, in order to facilitate communication from the IEP coordinators, we have set up the Google Group called ie-program. From time to time, Joseph Dias or Gregory Strong will circulate e-mails about a change to the curriculum, a reminder about a procedure or test date, or an upcoming guest lecture. Job vacancies in the program or at other universities are also posted as are opportunities for professional development through attending workshops and conferences or writing content for TESOL publications. We welcome submissions from you of appropriate material to share.
Textbook policy. There are assigned textbooks for the IE Core and IE Writing classes in the IEP. These include Interactions 2 (6th ed., 2014), and IE Core students are also required to purchase the IE Core and Writing booklet.
However, teachers of Oral English 1 and 2 are free to choose their own textbooks or to use other materials provided that the textbook or materials meets the objectives of the course. Generally, students should only be expected to purchase a maximum of one assigned textbook for each class per semester, although teachers can freely supplement the text with outside materials.
Ordering textbooks. As mentioned earlier, teachers do not order textbooks for any courses in the IEP, except, perhaps, for the IE Seminars. Those teaching Oral English 1 and 2, IE seminars, or other courses should order textbooks from the Kobaikai or make alternative arrangements. Information about how to order textbooks from the university bookstore will be sent to you, usually near the end of the second semester for the following academic year. Teachers should order all necessary textbooks for both the spring and fall semesters. Books ordered from publishers in Japan should be ordered by the end of February. Books ordered from publishers abroad can take 2-3 months to be delivered and should therefore be ordered as quickly as possible if they will be used during the first semester. Many, but not all, publishers provide a free teacher’s copy of the textbook.
With the exception of the textbooks for IE Core classes, the English Department cannot supply textbooks or teacher’s books for teachers. Students are expected to buy all the necessary books for both semesters at the beginning of the academic year since the bookstore only keeps textbooks in stock for a limited time. All textbooks should be bought by students from the bookstore; teachers should not sell textbooks or other materials to students independently.
