Mission

In order to foster students’ international leadership capabilities, a university-level liberal arts education must equip students with communication skills and intercultural understanding. The realization of this objective requires students to cultivate a broad spectrum of values and worldviews by developing competence in languages beyond their native tongue.

As such, the CCLE’s primary mission is to advance language education by researching current language teaching methodologies and examining the ever-changing cultural education curricula in higher education, both domestically and globally. Therefore, the CCLE aspires to incorporate concrete, workable, and innovative reforms into its curricula that will enhance learners’ linguistic and cultural fluency. To achieve these outcomes, the CCLE emphasizes the four skills of language – listening, speaking, reading, and writing – and aims to develop students’ abilities in these domains using a wide variety of purposeful and effective linguistic and cultural learning materials.

Organization

  1. The CCLE is one of eleven academic centers within the Tohoku University Institute for Excellence in Higher Education (IEHE).
  2. The CCLE is one of three academic centers within the IEHE Educational Research and Practice section.
  3. The CCLE is comprised of three language education sections: Japanese Language Section (JS), the English Language Section (ES), and the Primary Foreign Language Section (PS).
  4. The CCLE’s management structure consists of an administrative Steering Committee which liaises with the Tohoku University Academic Affairs Council (AAC) and other IEHE centers to coordinate all essential matters related to CCLE operations.

Responsibilities

  1. In cooperation with the AAC and the IEHE, the CCLE Steering Committee will participate with the three language education sections (ES, PS, and JS) so that each section may plan, develop, manage and administer their respective language education classes.
  2. In cooperation with the AAC and the IEHE, the CCLE Steering Committee will participate with the Japanese Language Section (JS) to play a central role in the coordination, planning and operation of the Special Committee for the Organization for the Promotion of International Collaboration, and other Japanese language and cultural education programs for international students.
  3. In cooperation with the AAC, the IEHE and the CCLE Steering Committee, the CCLE (JS) will establish, develop and maintain a Japanese language curriculum.
  4. In cooperation with the AAC, the IEHE and the CCLE Steering Committee, the CCLE (ES) will establish, develop and maintain an English language education curriculum (including 3rd and 4th year students) that is suited to the English language skill set of incoming high school students and will further enhance learners’ ability to use English for General Academic Purposes (EGAP).
  5. In cooperation with the AAC, the IEHE and the CCLE Steering Committee, the CCLE (PS) will establish, develop and maintain primary foreign language curricula.
  6. The CCLE will promote hybrid education systems that integrate online and face-to-face lesson delivery methods usingDigital Transformation (DX) by researching and implementing cutting-edge language education IC technologies.
  7. The CCLE will plan, develop, and manage the Tohoku University Plurilingual Studies (TU PluS) to improve multilingual skills by using other foreign languages in addition to English.
  8. In cooperation with the IEHE Center for Institutional Research (CIR) and the IEHE Center for Professional Development (CPD), the CCLE will develop and promote programs designed to improve the teaching of language and cultural education.
  9. In cooperation with the IEHE Global Learning Center (GLC), the CCLE will organize, enhance and expand study abroad, language skill, and cultural education programs.