Intensive Language and Culture Orientation Program for Japan.

The Language and Culture Institute of the University of Pittsburgh has developed a 13-week program of pre-assignment training for engineers given corporate assignments in Japan. The Institute offers the corporations three components in this intensive seminar: program administration, language training, and culture training. The program administration component includes program coordination (maintaining contact with participants, overseeing daily operations of the teaching staff, coordinating cultural component activities, trouble-shooting, and serving as liaison with the corporation) and budget preparation. The goal of the language training is to help students achieve Japanese language proficiency equivalent to that of one to four years of college instruction. The culture orientation is intended to develop sensitivity to the new culture's customs and philosophies. Each seminar is designed for a specific group and is budgeted, planned, and evaluated separately. While each program presents its own set of challenges and complications, a general structure for planning and budget development is now in place, and evaluation measures are being researched. (MSE)