PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICES TO IMPROVE LEARNERS’ JOB INTERVIEW PERFORMANCE WITH RECRUITING EXPERTS

Abstract

Japanese-speaking graduates are in high demand from not only Japanese companies but also multinational companies to expand their Japan-related operations and to promote diversity. However, for university students in Singapore, it can be difficult to achieve a high competency level to match the requirements because the Japanese language is only provided as an elective. Additionally, according to research, there are differences between the expectations of businesspeople and Japanese language instructors. Therefore, Japanese language teachers conducted a 3-week summer intensive programme aiming at preparing intermediate learners of Japanese for job interviews by collaborating with experts from a Japanese recruiting agency. As a result, it was found in the mid-term test that the participants lacked the ability of "asking for clarification," which is essential for interviews. Focused training in the second half of the programme helped to strengthen this skill but mastering it adequately within the programme duration was too difficult. This paper reports on the pedagogical practices, and reviews the importance and possibility of enhancing the ability of "asking for clarification" as a communication strategy from the elementary level.