Students are drawn from 11 faculties and a small number of students who are in the ‘Matching Program’ (MP). For an explanation of faculty number codes, please see Appendix G. The total number of students taking English in their first year is about 2,500. Of these, the great majority are Japanese. The rest are international students (e.g., Chinese, Korean, and Malaysian).
Obviously it is hard to generalize about such a large number of students but there are some useful descriptors which may help teachers. Many students have experienced lessons with non-Japanese teachers before but a surprising number have not. For these students the compulsory first-year English classes can be particularly testing.
Most students are very obedient and ‘good’ – they do their homework, come on time, and attend most lessons. The first-year classes can be a lot of fun and most students do enjoy them and make some progress, especially if they have not previously had so many opportunities for communication in English.
The pre-advanced and advanced classes (described in more detail below) are open to students of all years but they are mostly attended by first-years. These students are not necessarily ‘advanced’ but most are keen and respond well. Okayama students are used to working hard and will do a lot of work if pushed.