A proposal for professional English language support for graduate schools in Japan: initial studies and preliminary results

This paper describes initial studies and preliminary results of a project that was established to assess the professional English (PE) learning needs at Japanese graduate schools of science and technology in preparation for a formal proposal designed to address these needs in effective ways. The paper provides an overview of the research methodologies employed and previews the initial results obtained prior to publication of the full proposal which is scheduled for dissemination after completion of the project next year.