The Faculty of Business and Management (FBM), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia, Puncak Alam Campus, hosted a summer program for 11 non-business students from the National Institute of Technology, Ube College (NITUC), Japan. The main objective of the summer program was for the students to embark on a linguistic journey to acquire English while learning the fundamentals of business. To attend to this, customised business modules were created for this group of students. Several senior faculty members of FBM participated as facilitators and speakers for this one-month summer program, which ran from August 25th to September 24th of 2022. They shared their business experience, expertise and knowledge with the students.
The NITUC students found this summer program to be eye-opening as it enriched their business knowledge and experience while improving their English skills. The program offers a variety of activities with several buddy sessions and provide opportunities for cultural immersion. In addition to learning about business matters, the program added more colour into the students’ lives as it allowed them to experiment with different learning styles, foster connections with their peers, facilitators, and lecturers from Malaysia as well as discover Malaysian history, cultures and traditions. As students were encouraged to talk, ask questions, and contribute throughout the program, it boosted the students’ English proficiency.
Yamashita Kao, 16, a student from the Department of Chemistry and Materials Technology, said that the program was “a good experience for me because I learned a lot about Malaysian traditions and was able to communicate in English with the buddies and teachers in a fun and easy way. I look forward to meet everyone again in the future”. Similarly, Sasamoto Keita, 17, a student from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering stated that “the summer program is fun and exciting. I wish to visit Malaysia again”.
Kamimura Tsukino, 18, from the Department of Control and Information Engineering explained the summer program was “exciting since I can communicate in English with my buddies and teachers. They were all very kind”.
Not only did the students give the program great reviews, NITUC’s Sensei, Ms. Siti Aisyah Mokhtar concurred. She said, “During this program, the students gained so much knowledge and experience that they could not have learned anywhere else. They enjoyed their time at UiTM and found that after a month, they could communicate more effectively in English. Their improvement has impressed us.”
With the enormous success and accomplishment of this 2022’s summer program, NITUC, Japan eagerly anticipating the Linguistic Journey @ FBM, UiTM 2.0, which is set to begin in September 2023. For both FBM, UiTM and NITUC, Japan, they are committed to making the summer program a yearly event. This summer program is part of FBM’s international mobility drive in supporting UiTM’s aspiration to become a globally renowned university (GRU) in 2025.
For the program’s video, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3yxT96p1zw.