Tarlac school offers English course to Japanese students

The province’s premier higher education institution (HEI), Tarlac State University (TSU), has signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the Osaka University of Economics (OUE) in a bid to cement a productive and lasting partnership between them.

The agreement between two long-established Asian HEIs was signed by university presidents Dr. Arnold Velasco of TSU and Dr. Shunichiro Yamamoto of OUE.

It was made possible through the combined efforts of TSU’s Office of International Affairs and Linkages (OIAL) headed by its director, Dr. Maria Vanesa Palafox-Arador, and OUE’s Division of International Affairs director Kotaro Fujiwara.

Under the terms of the MoA, 13 Japanese university students from OUE will undergo a twoweek intensive English language training at TSU to be run by the OIAL through its English Language Proficiency Program.

Nine faculty members from the Communication and English Departments of TSU’s College of Arts and Social Sciences, headed by its dean — Dr. Aloysius Madriaga — will be selected to teach the Japanese university students the four English language macro skills: writing, listening, speaking and reading.

According to its website www.osaka-ue.ac.jp, OUE also sends students to York University in Toronto, Canada, and Waikato University in Hamilton, New Zealand, for their English language proficiency training.

OUE also has partnerships with more than 30 universities in Asia, Europe, Oceania, and North America.

TSU is the first university in the Philippines chosen by OUE for its students’ English language training.

“As one of what is expected to be many firsts for Tarlac State University, this 118-year-old institution of higher learning at the heart of Central Luzon is now officially an academic partner of one of Japan’s leading universities,” the OIAL said in its official social media page post.