The chapter is: Shekhtman et al (2002). Developing professional-level oral proficiency: The Shekhtman Method of Communicative Teaching. In Shekhtman and Leaver, Developing Professional-Level Language Proficiency. Cambridge University Press, 2002. p.119~140.
Unfortunately, despite the cool title, the concepts are not completely clearly explained and definitely not supported with evidence except the writer's personal language teaching/learning experience and some rather iffy metaphors beaten to death over long paragraphs. That leaves me skeptical about their value.
Nevertheless, some ideas were new to me and possibly useful for advanced language learners.
In the SMCT, some cool-seeming professional speaking tactics (Communication Management Devices) are:
Answer Expansion: Talking a lot so that the native speaker you speak with won't get worried that you cannot communicate. Hmm...useful?
Use of Islands: Having little pre-practiced conversation tidbits you can spurt out effortlessly in order to rest your mind (because conversation in a foreign language is taxing, yes). Islands="Speeches in which the speaker sounds more effective and articulate than usual" as a result of repetition. OK, but how do you know what to practice in advance...little anecdotes you tell again and again like some grandpa??
Using Questions to Continue a Conversation: Speak -> end with a question back to your interlocutor. Very useful, obviously. I agree with the authors that learners need to practice taking control of the direction of a conversation by asking questions.
Adherence to the Known: Using simple, automatically usable grammar structures and phrases that one knows in the target language, rather than trying to make difficult un-automatic phrases by translating from L1 or trying to make something new. Basically, go with the simple structures and phrases you know. I agree...I think. But is it so simple?
Simplification: This seems similar to the above. Use simple structures because when you go for something complex or unmastered, you can "ruin your communication" as Shekhtman et al put it.
Acceptance of Mistakes: Don't try to correct yourself in mid-speech unless a breakdown of communication is occuring. Good advice!
Embellishment: Using "Oh, by the way, " "Right on!" "On one hand...on the other hand" "You bet!" and other common "natural discourse markers" of spoken discourse in order to make your speaking sound more lively and natural. Sure...why not? As long as you don't over-embellish your stories, I guess.
Complication: Using complex, sophisticated structures and expressions in meticulously pre-prepared, monologic discourse such as presentations, even if they are "non-automatic" and difficult to use. OK, I think this is useful--but a bit too obvious to call a tactic?
Shekhtman has a "dirty laundry" washing method where he takes the oral mistakes of his students, says them to them, and makes them say the correct "washed" version. Hmm...yeah...that could work, I guess if you have time to do that one-on-one in a drill fashion. That would not be very realistic in a classroom situation unless it is done with samples from all around the classroom and everyone tries to wash some phrases the teacher caught during the group work time or presentation time. It could also be seen as too much focus on errors...
2009年8月28日金曜日
2009年8月27日木曜日
Michael loves games (anything with points and winning)
I was talking with a friend about how I teach my son English and was explaining how important games are to Michael. He gets really worked up about winning and learns like crazy. Also, if I tell him the rule is "English only," he still follows it...mostly.
-Uno, great for strategy
-Crazy Faces, plays like crazy eights, kind of like Uno in a way
-Picturika, very nice vocabulary game, but not popular to Michael yet since there are no "points" to count
-Transformers Battle Card Game, which we play like "war" for now, playing 1~6 cards to compare who has more points in the hand. Very nice for addition practice. Mikey looooves addition and sits there adding up all the cards in his hand to imagine the ultimate high score attack.
-Battleship, which he cheats by looking...can't yet persuade him that we're suppose to play it by GUESSING where the ships are...
-Life, which he calls the money game, and loves in scary wealth greedy way, and
-Good ol' Scrabble, where I allow him to use any as many tiles as he wants to make as long of a word as he wants to get as many points as possible. With a dictionary, he comes up with words like Quixotic. He couldn't care less what it means.
-I'm hoping to get him initiated into Chess and Shogi soon. He'll be kicking my butt in a few months, but oh well.
Any suggestions for good non-digital games? Please leave a comment. We're trying to keep him away from Nintendo DS as long as we can, but I have a feeling that's going to start causing stress when he starts Japanese first grade next April. Unless we can really get him into analog games and suck in some of his friends...
2009年8月26日水曜日
My first Voice Thread post
This is my first experiment with creating a voice thread. So easy and functional! It was easy to upload the main photo (or video), add my video, audio, or text medium comment, get a response from my colleage Chris (thanks!) by sharing with email, and Embedding this in my blog was extremely easy with just one click.
Since this should be easy for students to use to post photos/videos to stimulate communication, I want to try using this for my college classes, possibly for getting students to state opinions about news images, share personal narratives, or upload and exchange comments on group presentations.
The main logistical difficulty seems to be to give students time in a computer lab with audio/video recording devices working. Our labs have mikes on the headsets, but no video, so comments will have to be text or audio unless students have their own cameras at home or can use personal cell phone video.
But it looks like I can only make three of these with the free account, so I may need to shell out 60 dollars per year to get enough capacity to run a class activity with it. To get around that, if students are just doing one or two creations, I can ask the students to make free acounts. That may be enough for a "try it out" type experiment just for fun.
2009年8月25日火曜日
How Different Are We? By H.G.FitzGerald (2003)
http://bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp/htmy/1853596191.html
Most of the English classes I teach at my Japanese university only have Japanese students. The students have discussions with each other, and based on those interactions with each other (and the limited interaction they each get with me), are expected to develop their ability to eventually (hopefully) communicate cross-culturally in English with non-Japanese speakers of English.
Does it work? In other words, based on this limited foreign language learning context, plus possibly a summer of overseas study and some coincidental conversations with international students or faculty on campus, how well-prepared are my students for participating in advanced interactions in English with persons from other cultures? Of course, each of my students has different charactertistics as a language learner and will face different interactional demands in different contexts, so it may be difficult to generalize what "well-prepared" for "advanced interactions" means, but I still need to have some general sense of where they are in relation to where they need to be, and what is needed in order to help them move closer to where they want to be. Given that most students rarely have had a chance to converse with people of different cultures, one of the greatest challenges they may face is achieving successful communication by adapting to a wide variety of cultural differences and communication styles.
So that's why I was interested in this work by FitzGerald. What tendencies, successes or failures do Japanese speakers have when they interact in English with persons of other cultures, and what might we recommend in terms of preparing for more successful interaction?
In "How Different Are We?" FitzGerald's examination of 40 hours of spoken discourse involving 155 non-native speakers from 104 different countries and 6 native-speakers provides many valuable insights for what seems to "work" or "not work" for smooth communication in collaboration tasks between persons of different cultural backgrounds.
Some competencies recommended are: (p.173)
FitzGerald's view, based on the intercultural interaction data, was that the inductive style often led to interruptions and misunderstandings. In other words, when a speaker took a long time to get to a point, building up to it implicitly and indirectly, the communication became confusing and frustrating (even when the interactants were familiar with the different styles of communication).
I like the quote on p.109 because it confirms my own conclusion on organization style for English in intercultural contexts:
"(With indirect approaches) ...it is more difficult to work at inferring meaning in intercultural interactions and, in such communication, there is a preference for more explicit, direct verbal messages."
Some may criticize this view of a preferred direct style as ethnocentric and biased, possibly even imperialistic, and that may be true to some extent. With more exposure to indirect styles in the future, the international preference may change, or they may become equally effective. Even today, in some contexts, an inductive, indirect style may be more effective. However, given FitzGerald's data that indirectness tends to lead to confusion in intercultural interaction, and given a tendency among advanced English learners from many countries to learn the rhetorical style preferred by Anglophone countries, it seems most practical for learners to try to use a direct style if they want to achieve smoother communication.
However, it is important to remember that one size does not fit all. Just because "direct and explicit and deductive" seems to generally work more efficiently does not mean it is always the best way to go. Intercultural communicators need to be ready to adapt styles to the persons they communicate with.
FitzGerald's chart on p.168 can lead to stereotyping, and so I am not in favor of matching categories of styles to certain regions. The valuable part of identifying communication styles is that communicators can reflect on their own style and realize that their way may not be the only way.
Communication styles identified by FitzGerald based on her data and literature:
Most of the English classes I teach at my Japanese university only have Japanese students. The students have discussions with each other, and based on those interactions with each other (and the limited interaction they each get with me), are expected to develop their ability to eventually (hopefully) communicate cross-culturally in English with non-Japanese speakers of English.
Does it work? In other words, based on this limited foreign language learning context, plus possibly a summer of overseas study and some coincidental conversations with international students or faculty on campus, how well-prepared are my students for participating in advanced interactions in English with persons from other cultures? Of course, each of my students has different charactertistics as a language learner and will face different interactional demands in different contexts, so it may be difficult to generalize what "well-prepared" for "advanced interactions" means, but I still need to have some general sense of where they are in relation to where they need to be, and what is needed in order to help them move closer to where they want to be. Given that most students rarely have had a chance to converse with people of different cultures, one of the greatest challenges they may face is achieving successful communication by adapting to a wide variety of cultural differences and communication styles.
So that's why I was interested in this work by FitzGerald. What tendencies, successes or failures do Japanese speakers have when they interact in English with persons of other cultures, and what might we recommend in terms of preparing for more successful interaction?
In "How Different Are We?" FitzGerald's examination of 40 hours of spoken discourse involving 155 non-native speakers from 104 different countries and 6 native-speakers provides many valuable insights for what seems to "work" or "not work" for smooth communication in collaboration tasks between persons of different cultural backgrounds.
Some competencies recommended are: (p.173)
- bring out into the open any cultural differences you feel may be impeding understanding
- if there is a misunderstanding, rephrase. Do not repeat exactly
- clarify the intention behind your words, knowing others may not share your worldview
- expect other ways of structuring information and emphasizing a point
- use fillers to avoid pauses when you have not finished what you want to say (Apparently because different cultural norms of turn-taking can cause you to lose the floor if you pause too much. Sees true from my experience. This can be a big challenge for Japanese speakers who come from a culture where longer pauses are accepted and respected.)
- soften negative statements where culturally appropriate
- do not break up units of meaning with pauses (Because it is hard to follow?)
- Repeat difficult ideas using different words; Ask questions to confirm understanding of the listener
- Use introductory phrases "What I want to emphasize is..." to make the function of important utterances clear
- Give instructions or information in correct sequence without extraneous comment
FitzGerald's view, based on the intercultural interaction data, was that the inductive style often led to interruptions and misunderstandings. In other words, when a speaker took a long time to get to a point, building up to it implicitly and indirectly, the communication became confusing and frustrating (even when the interactants were familiar with the different styles of communication).
I like the quote on p.109 because it confirms my own conclusion on organization style for English in intercultural contexts:
"(With indirect approaches) ...it is more difficult to work at inferring meaning in intercultural interactions and, in such communication, there is a preference for more explicit, direct verbal messages."
Some may criticize this view of a preferred direct style as ethnocentric and biased, possibly even imperialistic, and that may be true to some extent. With more exposure to indirect styles in the future, the international preference may change, or they may become equally effective. Even today, in some contexts, an inductive, indirect style may be more effective. However, given FitzGerald's data that indirectness tends to lead to confusion in intercultural interaction, and given a tendency among advanced English learners from many countries to learn the rhetorical style preferred by Anglophone countries, it seems most practical for learners to try to use a direct style if they want to achieve smoother communication.
However, it is important to remember that one size does not fit all. Just because "direct and explicit and deductive" seems to generally work more efficiently does not mean it is always the best way to go. Intercultural communicators need to be ready to adapt styles to the persons they communicate with.
FitzGerald's chart on p.168 can lead to stereotyping, and so I am not in favor of matching categories of styles to certain regions. The valuable part of identifying communication styles is that communicators can reflect on their own style and realize that their way may not be the only way.
Communication styles identified by FitzGerald based on her data and literature:
- Instrumental/Exacting - Values individual autonomy. Linear, goal-oriented. Deductive, unemotional, objective, logical.
- Spontaneous/Argumentative - Values sincerity with blunt, direct style. Negative emotions are honestly expressed and not hidden. Arguments are forceful. Speak in length to say views in full to persuade the other side.
- Involved/Expressive - Warm, emotional, giving face to others, collaborative, enjoying the interaction, and sometimes like to digress from the goal on to tangents.
- Elaborate/Dramatic - Speaks take long turns to develop a dramatic, embellished story with metaphors, similes, rhythmic repetition and parallel structures. Positive, harmonious, but often full of sweeping assertions and overgeneralizations.
- Bureaucratic/Affective - Value harmonious relations and positive face. Stress form rather than content with formal bureaucratic language. Preference for inductive style of organization, including both sides of an issue.
- Succinct/Subdued - "These cultures value harmony, modesty and conformity and stress positive face, particulary position face. They express this by masking negative emotions and avoiding unpleasantness. Talk is status -oriented and should be deferential and indirect in many situations. People are expected to infer meanings. Turns are short and talk is concise except when an inductive organization of information and a conciliatory approach are used to avoid open disagreement. Talk and verbal skills are not highly valued: People are comfortable with silences."
2009年8月22日土曜日
2009年8月20日木曜日
Photos from Bangkok 8/7-9
The order of photos is not exactly chronological...a little poetic license here.
My research partner Kota and I, at a small temple near our hotel, praying for success on our presentation the next day.
Inside the temple, Thai people were chanting sutras after the monks for their evening prayers.
Being the dedicated language acquisition professionals we are, obviously the first stop on our free day after the conference had to be a one hour survival Thai language lesson for 500 bahts each. We spent about ten minutes just getting the angle of our hands and head correct for the Thai style greeting called the wai. Another killer driller was the 5 Thai tones. Our dedicated teacher refused to go on to the basic shopping phrases we needed until we could differentiate the minimal pairs for mid tone na (rice paddy) and rising-then-falling tone na (face). She was seriously concerned that we would risk deportation by going up to a Thai person hoping to say "I like your face" and instead insult the person by saying "I like your rice paddy." Fortunately our linguistic prowess allowed us to clear the hurdle and we were able to spend the last 5 minutes role-playing "How much?" "5 Baht" "That's a rip off!"
A few more photos...I'll try to write blurbs later.
My research partner Kota and I, at a small temple near our hotel, praying for success on our presentation the next day.
Inside the temple, Thai people were chanting sutras after the monks for their evening prayers.
Done! Celebrating a successfully delivered conference presentation with a cold Singha beer, one of many that night, on a deck overlooking the Chao Phraya River with Wat Arun in the back. Sorry, no photos of the conference...I'm sure there are plenty on the website if you have to see them.
Being the dedicated language acquisition professionals we are, obviously the first stop on our free day after the conference had to be a one hour survival Thai language lesson for 500 bahts each. We spent about ten minutes just getting the angle of our hands and head correct for the Thai style greeting called the wai. Another killer driller was the 5 Thai tones. Our dedicated teacher refused to go on to the basic shopping phrases we needed until we could differentiate the minimal pairs for mid tone na (rice paddy) and rising-then-falling tone na (face). She was seriously concerned that we would risk deportation by going up to a Thai person hoping to say "I like your face" and instead insult the person by saying "I like your rice paddy." Fortunately our linguistic prowess allowed us to clear the hurdle and we were able to spend the last 5 minutes role-playing "How much?" "5 Baht" "That's a rip off!"
Thus, we were ready to hit the town.
The best form of transportation in Bangkok is without doubt the tuk-tuk. As long as you can brave the exhaust fumes of the traffic around you, this open air taxi-bike is cheap and a lot of fun. Unlike taxis that take you for a ride to run up the meter, tuk-tuk fares are all decided by negotiation before getting in. Then the driver turns into a careening maniac to weave through traffic and alleyways to get you to your destination as quickly as possible.
Dinner at Songboon Sea Food. Wow! Strongly recommend the curry style crab. The shrimp were tasty too.
A few more photos...I'll try to write blurbs later.
2009年8月12日水曜日
Presenting at the Asia TEFL Conference in Bangkok
I just got back from a very productive academic conference in Bangkok called Asia TEFL (link). The presentation on "Factors Influencing Learner Self-Confidence in a Japanese EAP Program" that my research partner I delivered got some nice reactions from the 20 people who attended.
The conference program is here (link). Asia TEFL 2009 was held jointly with the annual Thai TESOL 2009 conference and that made a fairly big event with about 500 presentations.
Everything went very smoothly--almost. Just before our presentation, we found out that the conference organizers were not able to set up a projector for our PowerPoint presentation due to some logistical problems. Fortunately we had about 20 handouts of our PowerPoint slides and other reference materials, so we just did the presentation with our handouts and that worked fine.
We were surprised that over 20 people attended, filling up the room almost completely. Since our topic focuses on self-confidence issues of Japanese students, we thought we might get just a few people who teach or have taught in Japan. As it turned out, we had teachers and researchers from many different countries: Thailand (of course), Malaysia, Russia, Mexico, Pakistan, and Korea were the ones we found out, but there may have been others who we did not have a chance to talk to.
The Q&A time had some good questions, almost all focusing on how to help students who are shy or afraid of losing face in front of their classmates when they try to speak in English. Our presentation content did not directly expand on "practical solutions" for a boosting self-confidence or lowering anxiety and we only touched on the issue brief in the implications section. However, the interest of the audience mainly seemed to be in the practical application. We had a good discussion about this, suggesting basically, that since the group of students we interviewed felt their self-confidence is positively affected largely by 1) experiences of success, 2) feedback, 3) comparisons with others, 4) familiarity with the learning context, and 5 their personality and culture, what a teacher should do is to create a learning environment that can produce learning experiences perceived as a success, followed by positive feedback, and ensure that the students have enough time to gradually become accustomed to any new learning contexts including new tasks, new methods of evaluations, or new technologies. The teacher also needs to create a community of learners in which all students understand that having a diversity of skill levels, learning styles, motivations and other personal variables is completely natural and the key is to be mutually supportive so that all students feel comfortable to take risks.
For me, making the presentation was the main event, but I also was able to attend some interesting presentations. The plenary by Alastair Pennycook on issues related to globalization and English had some good points to remind us the social and political dimensions of language teaching. He proposed that we encourage our students to become "metrolingual," which is hard to define, but is related to being metropolitan (he referenced John Maher's concept of metroethnicity"). Basically this means highly flexible in the ability to accept, understand, and communicate with a variety of people as necessary. That sounds good to me. The level of English ability or type of English (US, British, Indian, Japanese etc. etc.) that is needed for that will just depend on the circumstances and goals of the student.
The conference program is here (link). Asia TEFL 2009 was held jointly with the annual Thai TESOL 2009 conference and that made a fairly big event with about 500 presentations.
Everything went very smoothly--almost. Just before our presentation, we found out that the conference organizers were not able to set up a projector for our PowerPoint presentation due to some logistical problems. Fortunately we had about 20 handouts of our PowerPoint slides and other reference materials, so we just did the presentation with our handouts and that worked fine.
We were surprised that over 20 people attended, filling up the room almost completely. Since our topic focuses on self-confidence issues of Japanese students, we thought we might get just a few people who teach or have taught in Japan. As it turned out, we had teachers and researchers from many different countries: Thailand (of course), Malaysia, Russia, Mexico, Pakistan, and Korea were the ones we found out, but there may have been others who we did not have a chance to talk to.
The Q&A time had some good questions, almost all focusing on how to help students who are shy or afraid of losing face in front of their classmates when they try to speak in English. Our presentation content did not directly expand on "practical solutions" for a boosting self-confidence or lowering anxiety and we only touched on the issue brief in the implications section. However, the interest of the audience mainly seemed to be in the practical application. We had a good discussion about this, suggesting basically, that since the group of students we interviewed felt their self-confidence is positively affected largely by 1) experiences of success, 2) feedback, 3) comparisons with others, 4) familiarity with the learning context, and 5 their personality and culture, what a teacher should do is to create a learning environment that can produce learning experiences perceived as a success, followed by positive feedback, and ensure that the students have enough time to gradually become accustomed to any new learning contexts including new tasks, new methods of evaluations, or new technologies. The teacher also needs to create a community of learners in which all students understand that having a diversity of skill levels, learning styles, motivations and other personal variables is completely natural and the key is to be mutually supportive so that all students feel comfortable to take risks.
For me, making the presentation was the main event, but I also was able to attend some interesting presentations. The plenary by Alastair Pennycook on issues related to globalization and English had some good points to remind us the social and political dimensions of language teaching. He proposed that we encourage our students to become "metrolingual," which is hard to define, but is related to being metropolitan (he referenced John Maher's concept of metroethnicity"). Basically this means highly flexible in the ability to accept, understand, and communicate with a variety of people as necessary. That sounds good to me. The level of English ability or type of English (US, British, Indian, Japanese etc. etc.) that is needed for that will just depend on the circumstances and goals of the student.
2009年8月5日水曜日
Off to Bangkok tomorrow for a presentation at Asia TEFL
I'm not looking forward to being nervous at my conference presentation on 8/7, but am looking forward to my first time to visit Thailand. I'll be back in Tokyo on 8/10.
Here's the slides my partner Dr. Ohata and I are planning to use. The wording and visual presentation still needs some work, but I think we'll do the rest on the plane. The rehearsal today seemed mostly good--just need to cut some parts to get done in time to allow Q&A.
Here's the slides my partner Dr. Ohata and I are planning to use. The wording and visual presentation still needs some work, but I think we'll do the rest on the plane. The rehearsal today seemed mostly good--just need to cut some parts to get done in time to allow Q&A.
Recommending "A Time to Kill" (book'92, movie'96)
I read the book a long time ago (I think), and just saw the 1996 movie adaptation for the first time after finding it on my Dad's DVD shelf when I visited my folks last week.
There's a few parts where the melodrama gets a bit thick and the plot plausibility gets a bit thin, but overall the movie is a very powerful legal thriller that brings the tragedy of Deep South racism to life though the rape of a young black girl and the murder trial of her father (Samuel Jackson) who refused to trust the justice of the Mississippi courts for trying whites and took things into his own hands--and the sympathetic small time local white lawyer (Matthew McConaughey) who takes the case to defend him. Scenes of the KKK protesting the trial and harassing/killing those who help the black defendant are particularly provocative.
Having a young daughter of my own, I toy with the question. If my daughter were raped and killed by a bunch of thugs, and I knew they would basically get away with a light sentence, would I take matters into my own hands? Or, would I forgive and forget and turn the other cheek, as the Christian upbringing in me (which I value highly) would prefer. Is the law always just, or is there a time to kill?
At the same time, I somewhat share the criticism of Jonathan Rosenbaum, who commented: "A Time to Kill argues for vigilantism but disguises its message by making the vigilante black, allowing viewers to think their blood lust and thirst for revenge is actually empathy for the oppressed." (qtd from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Time_to_Kill_(film))
As original author Grisham himself rated it, "It is not a great movie, but a good one."
2009年8月4日火曜日
朝日新聞８月１日の斉藤氏の『学校で「使える英語」なんて幻想だ』について
教員仲間で話題になったので、８月１日の朝日新聞の東大の斎藤氏の『学校で「使える英語」なんて幻想だ』というインタビュー記事を読みました。残念ながらネット版はないようで、記事の全文は紹介できません。
しかし、記事で斉藤氏が言っていることが現在の日本の中高大の英語教育に建設的に貢献するとは思えません。みなさんも是非読んで考えてみてください。英語教育について良い事も所々主張していますが、記事の主旨には異論を発信したいと思います。
斎藤氏の言いたいことの趣旨は以下の引用に集約されています：
「（中高でつくるべき土台とは）文法をきちんと教え、英文を正確に読めるようにする。文法と訳読の基本を身に着けておけば会話力も高度な運用能力も自分で伸ばしていくことができます。」
斎藤氏が書いたとおり、中高大の外国語教育の目標は間違えなく「土台づくり」にあるのですが、問題はどういう「土台」が最も幅広く学生たちに役に立つかです。リーディング・リスニング・ライティング・スピーキングの４技能の基礎が高校・大学卒業時にその生徒なりにバランスよくできていること、そして何よりも英語力の向上と国際交流に前向きな態度が持てているいることが目指すべき目標かと私は思いますが、みなさんいかがでしょうか？勿論、バランスを目指しても、授業の時間配分的にどれに重点を置くか選択肢が迫られる場合もあるでしょうから、その場合はそのコースの学生たちの受験・キャリア想定などのニーズに合わせれば良いのではないでしょうか。文法と読解ができることはもちろん大切です。それは誰も否定しませんし、会話ばかりやるような高校があるとしたらそれは問題です。しかし文法や読解と同じぐらい発音も含める会話力、そしてライティングの「土台」も欠かせませんし、４技能はお互いに補い合うのでオーラル・コミュニケーションを伸ばすことは文法力を徹底的に習得することにも繋がります。
しかし、私が編集されたインタビューの主旨を正しく理解していれば、斎藤さんは文法と訳読の基本さえ教師が鍛えてあげれば他の「高度運用能力～聞く・話す・書く」は自分で根性と自習でどうにかすればいいという主張です。文法と読解を日本語で先生が中高の授業で解説していれば学生が将来「根性」で英語ができるようになるという論に見えるのは間違えでしょうか。編集ミスであることを祈ります。そういうケースもあるかも知れませんが、限られた学生にしか役に立たない教育観に見えます。
訳読の問題点を指摘している研究は沢山ありますが、ここでは自分の経験から語ります。
私はワシントン大学の中国語の授業で訳読を２学期ほど経験しましたが、最悪でした。先生としては「はい、次の行、マークくん読んで訳して」とほぼ準備なしで行えるので楽でしょうが、学生からすると非常に退屈です。授業に行きたいと思いません。そして意味を理解する以外の感想、意見交換などはないので、内容に興味を持つこともできません。自分で読みたいものを選ぶことも、自分のペースで進めることもできないので教授の趣味に付き合わされるだけです。もちろん、外国語のテキストを母語に正確に訳すという活動は独学や宿題として効果的な場合もありますが、「使える英語」の基礎を作る中高において授業の主軸に位置づけてはいけないと思います。
もし斎藤氏のこの記事を読んで「中高生はやはり訳読でよい」と思うような教育者がいたら悲劇だと思います。現に一部ブログでは支持意見が出ているので怖いです。もちろん、安易な会話練習に偏りすぎたり、文法や文章読解力がつかないような授業をしている場合は教え方の改善が必要ですが、改善の方法が訳読中心の授業への逆戻りになっては英語の教育効果も学生のやる気も低下すると私は予想します。
単語力、文法力、読解力を身につけるのは非常に大事です。しかし、先生が授業の前に立って日本語解説でやっていく手法では身に付かないので。リーディング、リスニング、そしてコミュニケーション活動に文法を理解・運用させるfocus on formやstructured outputを混ぜながら「わかった、使えた、意思が通じた」というプロセスを少しづつ踏むことが大事です。教師主導でなく、個人・ピア・グループの活動を工夫して様々な伝え合いが授業の中でおこるように進めることもとても大事です。また、場合によっては日本語解説も有益なので英語だけで授業を進めることを全面的に強制することには反対ですが、可能なかぎり外国語の授業は先生が外国語で進めることが理想的だと思います。
最後に、記事の中で斎藤氏の「根性仮説」というのが出てきてちょっと笑えました。Effort Hypothesisというのでしょうか。第二言語の習得は主に根性によるという持論のようです。記事の文脈では冗談ではないようでしたが、冗談であることを祈ります。
個人の努力による独学（多読・多聴・音読・書き取りなど）は確かに非常に大事ですし、学生にそれを意識させたり、楽して上手になれるという妄想を取り払ったり、独学法をシラバスに入れて経験させることは必要です。しかし外国語教育者としての責任はそれだけではありません。様々な学習者のタイプがそれぞれ必要や興味に応じて４技能をバランスよく伸ばすことができるようにカリキュラムをつくり、活動を工夫していかなくてはいけません。「主に根性」が上達の原理ならば団塊世代の日本人の多くはすでに英語運用の達人になっているでしょう。しかし実態はそうではないと思います。
そういうわけで、「中高で教えるべきは文法と訳読」そして「大事なのは根性」というのはあまり建設的な意見に思えません。様々な専門家から強い反論の記事が載ることを期待します！
しかし、記事で斉藤氏が言っていることが現在の日本の中高大の英語教育に建設的に貢献するとは思えません。みなさんも是非読んで考えてみてください。英語教育について良い事も所々主張していますが、記事の主旨には異論を発信したいと思います。
斎藤氏の言いたいことの趣旨は以下の引用に集約されています：
「（中高でつくるべき土台とは）文法をきちんと教え、英文を正確に読めるようにする。文法と訳読の基本を身に着けておけば会話力も高度な運用能力も自分で伸ばしていくことができます。」
斎藤氏が書いたとおり、中高大の外国語教育の目標は間違えなく「
しかし、私が編集されたインタビューの主旨を正しく理解していれば、斎藤さんは文法と訳読の基本さえ教師が鍛えてあげれば他
訳読の問題点を指摘している研究は沢山ありますが、ここでは自分の経験から語ります。
私はワシントン大学の中国語の授業で訳読を２学期ほど経験しまし
もし斎藤氏のこの記事を読んで「中高生はやはり訳読でよい」と思うような教育者がいたら悲劇だと思います。現に一部ブログでは支持意見が出ているので怖いです。もちろん、安易な会話練習に偏りすぎたり、文法や文章読解力がつかないような授業をしている場合は教え方の改善が必要ですが、改善の方法が訳読中心の授業への逆戻りになっては英語の教育効果も学生のやる気も低下すると私は予想します。
単語力、文法力、読解力を身につけるのは非常に大事です。しかし、先生が授業の前に立って日本語解説でやっていく手法では身に付かないので。リーディング、リスニング、
最後に、記事の中で斎藤氏の「根性仮説」
個人の努力による独学（多読・多聴・音読・書き取りなど）
そういうわけで、「中高で教えるべきは文法と訳読」そして「
2009年8月3日月曜日
My JACET Convention Steering Committee duty / 大学英語教育学会大会運営委員会のお仕事
In February, I was nominated and accepted as a member of the Annual Convention Steering Committee for JACET, the Japan Association of College English Teachers, starting my first ever gig as an actively contributing member of an academic association.
This is unpaid, but has been a good experience for the past six months, a good chance to see the inner workings of academic conferences and to meet many other college educators outside my own university. Some of the leaders of my committee put in huge numbers of volunteer hours to make everything work. They have my deepest respect for all they do; it takes a lot of volunteers to put a convention together.
I'm still not sure of all of the responsibilities that will be coming up, but basically, what this has entailed so far is 1) attending a monthly meeting to discuss and decide on matters for preparing the annual convention coming up in early September, 2) helping with the drafting, revising and proofreading convention documents such as the online schedule or paper booklet with the conference presentation listings. At the convention, I'll also have a shift behind the registration desk and possibly help out with taking care of some of the plenary speakers unfamiliar with getting around in Japan.
Being part of the committee has made me look at academic conferences I attend with a new perspective. I notice what online tools are used, how feedback on proposals is given, how arrangements are communicated to presenters and participants...all those details. I also have started to think critically about the whole time/money value of going to a convention to listen to presentations that may or may not be worth your while.
I'm hoping I can continue to make a solid contribution at JACET this year and, after I get a bit more familiar with things, come up with some good ideas to help streamline some of the more time-consuming procedures and make the annual event maximize ease and take-aways.
Ideally, conferences should become more "blended" with a mix of online/offline interaction. Presenters should do a bit more work in advance to post their papers and PowerPoint slides and possibly a video of their presentations to communicate their main points, and people who find common interests should start the discussion online with Q&A and meet at the convention location at certain time slots to do more indepth face-to-face discussions.
This is unpaid, but has been a good experience for the past six months, a good chance to see the inner workings of academic conferences and to meet many other college educators outside my own university. Some of the leaders of my committee put in huge numbers of volunteer hours to make everything work. They have my deepest respect for all they do; it takes a lot of volunteers to put a convention together.
I'm still not sure of all of the responsibilities that will be coming up, but basically, what this has entailed so far is 1) attending a monthly meeting to discuss and decide on matters for preparing the annual convention coming up in early September, 2) helping with the drafting, revising and proofreading convention documents such as the online schedule or paper booklet with the conference presentation listings. At the convention, I'll also have a shift behind the registration desk and possibly help out with taking care of some of the plenary speakers unfamiliar with getting around in Japan.
Being part of the committee has made me look at academic conferences I attend with a new perspective. I notice what online tools are used, how feedback on proposals is given, how arrangements are communicated to presenters and participants...all those details. I also have started to think critically about the whole time/money value of going to a convention to listen to presentations that may or may not be worth your while.
I'm hoping I can continue to make a solid contribution at JACET this year and, after I get a bit more familiar with things, come up with some good ideas to help streamline some of the more time-consuming procedures and make the annual event maximize ease and take-aways.
Ideally, conferences should become more "blended" with a mix of online/offline interaction. Presenters should do a bit more work in advance to post their papers and PowerPoint slides and possibly a video of their presentations to communicate their main points, and people who find common interests should start the discussion online with Q&A and meet at the convention location at certain time slots to do more indepth face-to-face discussions.
My two-day battle with Streptococcal pharyngitis
A pox on the person that gave me this! I woke up last Monday with 39.1 degree fever and sore throat and after a test the good doctor let me know the good news: "yorenkin" (strep throat).
Fortunately, after two days of being unable to eat anything exept jellies from a horribly swollen throat and only barely able to walk to the john (I fainted in mid-step and crashed into a wall in the middle of the night and scared the whole neighborhood), the antibiotics got the fever down and I felt good enough to take the kids up to Nagano as planned.
FYI,
一分で分かるヨウレン菌
http://www.yourenkin.com/cat4/post_4.html
Wikipedia on Strep Throat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streptococcal_pharyngitis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streptococcus
Makes you appreciate good health and the importance of basics like gargling and washing hands after coming home. Thanks for nursing me back to health Megu!
Winston Churchhill quote on democracy
This came up in a NYT article on health care reform in the USA.
I like the phrasing of "... is the worst form of...except all those other forms that have been tried." Very useful.
"Many forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.
I like the phrasing of "... is the worst form of...except all those other forms that have been tried." Very useful.
"Many forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.
Teaching Naked in the Classroom (from the Chronicle of Higher Ed)
I liked the article "When Computers Leave Classrooms, So Does Boredom"
http://chronicle.com/article/Teach-Naked-Effort-Strips/47398/
Don't worry. The "naked" here means without the security of PowerPoint to help you drone for an hour.
Here's a good quote that articulated what I've felt about college lectures and conference presentations recently:
"...the information delivery common in today's classroom lectures should be recorded and delivered to students as podcasts or online videos before class sessions. To make sure students tune in, he (Mr. Bowen, a lecturer of Jazz History) gives them short online multiple-choice tests.
So what's left to do during class once you've delivered your lecture? Introduce issues of debate within the discipline and get the students to weigh in based on the knowledge they have from those lecture podcasts, Mr. Bowen says.
'If you say to a student, We have this problem in Mayan archaeology: We don't know if the answer is A or B. We used to all think it was A, now we think it's B. If the lecture is 'Here's the answer, it's B,' that's not very interesting. But if the student believes they can contribute, they're a whole lot more motivated to enter the discourse, and to enter the discipline.'
In short, don't be boring."
ICU needs to move in this direction. My EFL reading and composition classes are already discussion-based to a certain extent, but I can do it more by moving explanations about essay writing techniques or reading techniques or projects to the web.
Presentations at conferences should be the same. Going to listen to somebody lecture live in a one-way style is often boring, completely unstimulating. If you have something valuable to say, you should write it online or record your lecture on video or online slides with voice over. Then, people who have listened to it should go to your interactive session for questions and discussion.
http://chronicle.com/article/Teach-Naked-Effort-Strips/47398/
Don't worry. The "naked" here means without the security of PowerPoint to help you drone for an hour.
Here's a good quote that articulated what I've felt about college lectures and conference presentations recently:
"...the information delivery common in today's classroom lectures should be recorded and delivered to students as podcasts or online videos before class sessions. To make sure students tune in, he (Mr. Bowen, a lecturer of Jazz History) gives them short online multiple-choice tests.
So what's left to do during class once you've delivered your lecture? Introduce issues of debate within the discipline and get the students to weigh in based on the knowledge they have from those lecture podcasts, Mr. Bowen says.
'If you say to a student, We have this problem in Mayan archaeology: We don't know if the answer is A or B. We used to all think it was A, now we think it's B. If the lecture is 'Here's the answer, it's B,' that's not very interesting. But if the student believes they can contribute, they're a whole lot more motivated to enter the discourse, and to enter the discipline.'
In short, don't be boring."
ICU needs to move in this direction. My EFL reading and composition classes are already discussion-based to a certain extent, but I can do it more by moving explanations about essay writing techniques or reading techniques or projects to the web.
Presentations at conferences should be the same. Going to listen to somebody lecture live in a one-way style is often boring, completely unstimulating. If you have something valuable to say, you should write it online or record your lecture on video or online slides with voice over. Then, people who have listened to it should go to your interactive session for questions and discussion.
2009年8月2日日曜日
松原湖高原で釣をしてきました
雨模様ながら父と子のいい時間. Due to very limited fishing experience and technique, we only got one ギンブナ after two hours, but it was fun!
Bye fish! See you again?!
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