ABSTRACT
Increasing student mobility has far-reaching implications for the global education market. Because of the increased competition between institutions due to the shrinking population and the deregulation of establishing new private universities and programs in Japan, institutions increasingly are attempting to attract international students to supplement their enrollment numbers, often encouraged by the Japanese Ministry of Education. However, institutions cannot view international students from diverse regional and educational backgrounds simply as one homogeneous group, but they must also be considered based on their cultural and educational backgrounds. This study evaluated the extent to which a pre-service Masters in TESOL Program provided in a Japanese context addresses the needs of a multicultural student body. Current students, alumni, faculty members and administration evaluated the graduate program including changes made in response to a preliminary evaluation and a categorization scheme used to identify potential challenges based on the students’ cultural, educational and linguistic backgrounds. Data analysis indicated trust and a positive atmosphere have increased in the program after various changes were made, yet also revealed that actual student needs are more complex. Recommendations are made as to how to effectively address these diverse needs, not only for this specific graduate program, but also for similar programs that cater to a diverse multicultural student population.
