+ Dental English Dr. John Ebinger

+ Introduction A bit of Personal Information

+ Unique English language skill set needed in dentistry Are our dental English courses at KMU equipping our students with the English skills they will need in the future? 1) What are some of these “special English skills” needed by dental professionals? i. Basic medical and dental terminology ii. Patient care: communicating with first and second language English speaking patients  First language English speakers with unfamiliar accents  Second language English speakers who do not know Chinese  Building trust – overcoming fear

+ Unique English language skill set needed in dentistry iii. Collaboration with first and second language English- speaking dental colleagues  English presentations at international meetings  Research manuscript, academic projects iv. Speaking into different Cultural – Philosophical - Worldview contexts  “I understand the words you are using, but I don’t know what you mean.”  Translating meaning into another worldview  “Thinking in English” / “Thinking in Chinese”  Linear- Propositional / Circuitous – cyclical

+ KMU Dental English Course Overview ： historic course objectives Exposure to medical and dental English terminology with an emphasis on reading and pronunciation The focus with reading is primarily word decoding rather than reading for comprehension

+ KMU Dental English Course Overview: Course Logistics 1) One hour class each week for two semesters 2) Content i. Fall Semester – human anatomy by systems ii. Spring semester – dental procedures 3) Paradigm i. Sage model – lecture based Course directions and instruction are provided in Chinese, not English Content-based echo reading in English ii. Weekly written tests over English terminology

+ Existing Course Shortcomings 1) Large class size – limited amount of class time i. Inability to monitor and refine individual student’s pronunciation in a large lecture hall ii. Minimal opportunity for student interaction in English iii. Written test used to determine vocabulary skill development 2) Emphasis on teaching dental procedures and dental materials rather than developing English communication skills 3) Default Chinese language instruction 4) Memorizing English words rather than developing interactive communication skills in English

+ TBL Pilot Project: Overview Activity design: 1. Students were to use their English reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills to design and perform a role-play skit featuring an assessment of a diabetic dental patient. 2. Reading, writing, listening and speaking skills 3. Content-based and relevant for our students. 4. Dental professional purpose for English. i. Medical and dental terminology ii. Patient care: assessing an English speaking diabetic patient. iii. Collegial discussion: student discussion in English regarding the skit design.

+ TBL Pilot Project: Logistics i. Preliminary Introduction: In-class: overview of activity. Online: Activity guidelines, team assignments, and assigned reading about managing a dental diabetic patient were provided. iii. Preparation Class: Eighteen Teams of five students meet together for one hour to design a three minute role-play skit. Collaboration between team members was to be conducted in English. Verbal parts in the skit were to be designed, so that all team members would have English-speaking roles in the skit. iv. Presentation Class: Team of Performing Students:  Each team was to be given three minutes to perform their skit.  Q & A with audience was to follow the skit. Students in audience:  Were to evaluate each skit with a grading rubric

+ TBL Pilot Project: Assessment i. Administrative Issues Time management Coordination  Among instructors and video technicians ii. Student Issues Inadequate command of the diabetic assessment information  Reading skill level or lack of effort? Weakness collaborating in English Difficulty converting academic information into practical applications  The series of assessment questions during the role-play skits were often illogical and not related to the patient’s answers. Q & A sessions demonstrated significant deficiencies  Questions were often incoherent or even incomprehensible  Answers revealed weakness in the ability to think in English extemporaneously.

+ Conclusion 1) The TBL activity was disappointing – but helpful i. Provided an objective assessment of our students’ English language skills ii. Confirmed the value of incorporating more TBL and PBL activities in our dental English courses iii. Revealed the need for administrative improvements in designing and managing TBL and PBL activities 2) Are our dental English courses at KMU equipping our students with the unique English skills they will need in the future?

+ This semester, we are back!