A Study for Developing a Database System for Intercultural Training Programs as an Educational Support Tool in Japan (14pt Arial, Bold, Align text to the left)

As the number of foreign people living in Japan has rapidly increased in the last decade, the necessity for intercultural understanding among Japanese people and foreigners alike is becoming more imperative. In the higher education system of Fukui prefecture in Japan, the researcher and her co-researchers aim at developing an original Intercultural Training program using information and communication technology. It intends to help teachers save time in lesson preparation; to spend more time on rational explanation of intercultural understanding and intercultural communication studies in lectures; to overcome a problem concerning a lack of intercultural understanding teachers; and to make Intercultural Training more widespread. This original computer and training program with a self-learning function; an analysis system; a discussion room called a forum which allows students to view and exchange opinions on-line, and game elements is under progress. This study has just started and is supported by a grant from Fukui prefecture in Japan. In this paper, the progress of our study will be shown.