2011年3月31日木曜日

英語と就職、出世、お金  President誌 2011 4.18

企業の英語公用語化の問題に興味があったんで買ってみた。
完全公用化は無理があるようだが、部門によって英語・国際会議など部分的な仕事機能において英語を公用語にする企業が増えてくる気がする。

すると早稲田国際教養学部、秋田国際教養、明治国際日本学部などと共に「英語虎の穴」大学の一校としてICUが紹介されていた。

p. 105
「国際基督教大学 設立’53年 偏差値66 教養学部のみの単科大。教育水準はトップレベルと称される。英語は英語教育プログラム(一年次のほとんどと2年次の一部)によって学ぶ。英語が得意な学生でも恐れをなすほどスパルタらしい。」

確かにそうである。来るヤツは恐れをなしてこい!

しかし、「英語得意になって就職する」ことでICUに来ない方がよい。ここは注意が必要である。
まずICUの教育は「お金のいい就職をする!」ということを目標していない。
そういう気持ちで入学すると場違いになると思う。

英語のための英語は学ばないからである。入学のレベル分けでTOEFLを使うが、TOEIC・TOEFLの点数目標もなければ良い就職を意識した英語資格の授業も殆どない。スコアは身のある学術英語・教養英語(English for Academic Purposes, English for Liberal Arts)をやることで自然と伸びる。

でもどんなに英語が得意でも、社会問題についてじっくり調べ考え、自分の分析や意見を文献に基づいて論じる能力・意欲がないと単位はとれない。綺麗な英語を書いたかどうかの評価は成績のかなり小さな部分でしかない。

リベラル・アーツ「自由人の教養教育」は社会へ貢献する責任のための学びである。そのために必用な基礎知識、思考力、研究力、問題解決力、そして書面・口頭の表現力を鍛えている。中世の欧州で政治などを通して社会を動かす責任をもつ階級の「自由人」の教育は言いつけられた仕事をこなすための専門教育を習う「職人の教育」と目的・内容が違っていたことに由来する。

ICUで英語に力を入れているのは学生が日本と世界を結び、リーダーとして日本と世界の発展に貢献することを願うためである。そして英語教育の内容は英語環境でも日本語と同様に思考力、研究力、問題解決力、そして書面・口頭の表現力を発揮できる力をつけるためのものである。

ーーーーーーーーーーーー
もうすぐ春学期スタート!学生も私のような講師も必死な毎日がやってきます。楽しみです。

Starting up a new school year in ICU's English for LIBERAL ARTS program

Time for a new year to begin!

This will be my sixth year here at ICU and I am very excited about meeting the new first year students next week.

I am immensely fortunate to be working here in a university that attracts some of the most motivated and talented young people in Japan. I feel excited about meeting my students and working with them and can look forward to not only a meaningful teaching experience but to learning a lot from the research and insights that my students bring to our classes.

And I think it is OK to leak this mostly? official decision that we are considering a change of the name of our program to English for Liberal Arts, or ELA from the current ELP, English Language Program. This is a very natural change for us, really, since this name more closely reflects our focus. Our primary goal is not just to help our students be good at "English" but more specifically help them develop English skills that can form the foundation of liberal arts studies in English.

The most recent Faculty Development Newsletter at ICU included a reevaluation by Dr. Steele of our mission as a liberal arts university. In it, he lists a 6-Point Definition of Liberal Learning that I want to introduce here in a slightly shortened form:

Liberal Learning
-------------------
  1. Develops critical thinking necessary to make informed decisions in an age cluttered with information.
  2. Calls for moral and social responsibility in an age of contending world views and confusing ethical choices.
  3. Liberates students, making them free, able to take charge of their own thoughts and examine often contradictory ideologies and traditions that exist today.
  4. Encourages students to engage in active, rigorous inquiry. Have a critical curiosity.
  5. Requires students to be open minded and embrace a diversity of ideas and experiences.
  6. Inspires students to want to serve in society, and challenges students to develop skills and knowledge that will help them be more effective in identifying and solving problems in society.
An ambitious list of goals, but my students each year impress me with how well they develop many of these. Looking forward to meeting you all next week!

2011年3月27日日曜日

竜馬がゆく、はまりました、刺激されました

春休みのちょっとした読書として司馬遼太郎の「竜馬がゆく」を1~8巻最後まで読み終えました。完全に司馬遼太郎の幕末の世界にはまりました。是非おすすめです。



数年前一巻だけを読んでストップしてものを、最近友人と飲み会で幕末・明治維新の話をしたのをきっかけでまた一巻からスタート。大学の授業が春休みなのをいいことにBook Offで買いこんできて「Daddy, let's play!」とせがむ息子・娘を無視して一気に読んでしまいました。

引きこまれる理由はやはり司馬遼太郎氏が歴史文献に基づいて作り上げる迫力と愛嬌を備えた竜馬という個性的かつ魅力的な人物像、そして繰り広げられる幕末の激動的な出来事のドラマです。本当の坂本竜馬がこのような人物だったかどうかもちろん分からないでしょうが、司馬氏が紹介する手紙や周辺の人物の日誌を参考にすると、ひょっとしたら本当にこうだったのかも?と信じそうになります。

歴史を動かした人物としての坂本竜馬を改めてすごい人物だなと感心します。しかし歴史的に正確かどうかということよりも、この話から何を得るか、だと思います。

竜馬の魅力は何と言っても権力者を恐れずに腐った制度を批判的に問う度胸、死ぬことを恐れずに事を成し遂げる使命感の強さと行動力、そして常識にとらわれない発想力でしょうか。刺激されます。自分にももっと必要な力だと思いますし、自分と共に学ぶ学生たちにも養ってほしい力です。

「世に生を得るは、事を成すにあり」

小説に出てくるこの竜馬の言葉は史実かどうかは別として好きな言葉です。自分の「成したい事」とはなんだろうか?と考え、小さくとも何か達成したい志を目指して進むことの大切さを改めて考えさせらる。



余談だが、先学期の英語のテーマは生命倫理で、学生の論文には日本の自殺問題に関するものが多かった。その中でも日本人にとって「腹を切る」武士の伝統やそれについての一種の美意識が現代の日本人の自殺とどう関係しているか分析しているものがあって、竜馬がゆくを読みながらそれを思いだしていた。竜馬がゆくの中ではかなり多くの武士が切腹する。武市半平太のように処刑方法としてのものもあるが、自分から何かの責任をとって自殺するものもある。確かに自分の腹が切れるという事自体すごい自制力で、感心するが、選択肢がある場合には自分はいつも「責任をとって腹を切るより、責任をとって生きて何かを成せ!」と言いたくなっていた。

2011年3月26日土曜日

My New Bike!



After years of riding a used mama-chari, I finally got a proper bike. It is amazing how smooth a proper cross bike is. After I bought it, I rode it from the Giant shop in Kunitachi to Mitaka for about 12km along To-hachi, and THIS BABY IS FAST!


Here is the official specs list. A cross-bike has road race bike mechanics with mountain bike design and is just right for casual distance riding.


It will definitely be good for weekends and commuting, and I'm hoping I'll have a chance to take it on overnight biking trips.

2011年3月20日日曜日

日本がんばれ! 日本の心の良さ、強さを書いたNYタイムズ記事

The Japanese Could Teach Us a Thing or Two
日本に学びたい

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: March 19, 2011

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/opinion/20kristof.html

When America is under stress, as is happening right now with debates about where to pare the budget, we sometimes trample the least powerful and most vulnerable among us. So maybe we can learn something from Japan, where the earthquake, tsunami and radiation leaks haven’t caused society to come apart at the seams but to be knit together more tightly than ever. The selflessness, stoicism and discipline in Japan these days are epitomized by those workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, uncomplainingly and anonymously risking dangerous doses of radiation as they struggle to prevent a complete meltdown that would endanger their fellow citizens.

The most famous statue in Japan is arguably one of a dog, Hachiko, who exemplified loyalty, perseverance and duty. Hachiko met his owner at the train station when he returned from work each day, but the owner died at work one day in 1925 and never returned. Until he died about 10 years later, Hachiko faithfully went to the station each afternoon just in case his master returned.

I hope that some day Japan will erect another symbol of loyalty and dedication to duty: a statue of those nuclear plant workers.

I lived in Japan for five years as the Tokyo bureau chief for The New York Times, and I was sometimes perceived as hostile to the country because I was often critical of the Japanese government’s incompetence and duplicity. But the truth is that I came to cherish Japan’s civility and selflessness. There’s a kind of national honor code, exemplified by the way even cheap restaurants will lend you an umbrella if you’re caught in a downpour; you’re simply expected to return it in a day or two. If you lose your wallet in the subway, you expect to get it back.

The earthquake has put that dichotomy on display. The Japanese government has been hapless. And the Japanese people have been magnificent, enduring impossible hardships with dignity and grace.

As I recalled recently on my blog, I covered the 1995 Kobe earthquake that killed more than 6,000 people, and I looked everywhere for an example of people looting merchandise from one of the many shops with shattered windows. I did find a homeowner who was missing two bicycles, but as I did more reporting, it seemed as if they might have been taken for rescue efforts.

Finally, I came across a minimart owner who had seen three young men grab food from his shop and run away. I asked the shop owner if he was surprised that his fellow Japanese would stoop so low.

“No, you misunderstand,” the shop owner told me. “These looters weren’t Japanese. They were foreigners.”

Granted, Japan’s ethic of uncomplaining perseverance — gaman, in Japanese — may also explain why the country settles for third-rate leaders. Moreover, Japan’s tight-knit social fabric can lead to discrimination against those who don’t fit in. Bullying is a problem from elementary school to the corporate suite. Ethnic Koreans and an underclass known as burakumin are stigmatized. Indeed, after the terrible 1923 earthquake, Japanese rampaged against ethnic Koreans (who were accused of setting fires or even somehow causing the quake) and slaughtered an estimated 6,000 of them.

So Japan’s communitarianism has its downside, but we Americans could usefully move a step or two in that direction. Gaps between rich and poor are more modest in Japan, and Japan’s corporate tycoons would be embarrassed by the flamboyant pay packages that are common in America. Even in poor areas — including ethnic Korean or burakumin neighborhoods — schools are excellent.

My wife and I saw the collective ethos drummed into children when we sent our kids to Japanese schools. When the teacher was sick, there was no substitute teacher. The children were in charge. When our son Gregory came home from a school athletic meet, we were impressed that he had won first place in all his events, until we realized that every child had won first place.

For Gregory’s birthday, we invited his classmates over and taught them to play musical chairs. Disaster! The children, especially the girls, were traumatized by having to push aside others to gain a seat for themselves. What unfolded may have been the most polite, most apologetic, and least competitive game of musical chairs in the history of the world.

Look, we’re pushy Americans. We sometimes treat life, and budget negotiations, as a contest in which the weakest (such as children) are to be gleefully pushed aside when the music stops. But I wish we might learn a bit from the Japanese who right now are selflessly subsuming their own interests for the common good. We should sympathize with Japanese, yes, but we can also learn from them.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/opinion/20kristof.html

助け合いと思いやりを大切にする日本の心は復興の最大の原動力。

2011年3月13日日曜日

TED Talk by Deb Roy on The Birth of a Word + Patricia Kuhl on Linguistic Genius of Babies



This is an amazing introduction to how researchers are gaining insights into how language is used in human interaction and how children acquire the language word by word.

Roy video and audio recorded every word of language interaction in his house over several years and created computer programs to transcribe, trace and analyze the data. Wow.

He shows an example of how his son gradually learned the word WATER, starting from Ga-ga. The child experiments with various versions of the sound until arriving at a very close approximation in his second year.

I followed my son's English speech development for three years also, but not like this. The potential for understanding first and second language acquisition is immense once tools like this become more available.

Also, below is another very cool TED talk by Patricia Kuhl of my alma mater UW showing that small children (up to 8 months?) can learn (=distinguish) between all types of foreign sounds by being exposed to them in person (not recording). A clear indication of the critical period for sound recognition such as the difference between the American /r/ /l/ and the Japanese /r/

Amazingly, they have a magnetoencephalography machine that can put babies in to see what is happening in their brain. Cool.

2011年3月11日金曜日

Simple Home Theater

Now that we have some space in our new house's living room...I've finally been able to put together a projector and screen.

The ultimate low cost home theater is...

1. Projector: Buy through Kakaku.com for about 35000yen
http://www.benq.co.jp/products/Projector/?product=1756

There are higher end models for projectors, but this is more than enough for watching movies in a living room. We get an nice 80~90 inch size picture with the projector mounted 3m from the screen across our living room.

2. Screen 180 x 180cm: Buy through Nitori.com for 3990yen
http://www.nitori-net.jp/shop/goods/goods.aspx?goods=7430346

Easy!

My only other wish is for a bit better surround audio...Hmm...

Family Movie Night - Recent and Upcoming Selections

On Friday or Saturday nights, I try to choose a film for everyone in our family to enjoy. Here are some titles we've watched over the past few months:

Toy Story 3

How to Train a Dragon

Up

Despicable Me

Hotaru no Haka

Stuart Little I, II

Madagascar

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

So...what is next? What are some must-see movies for kids almost 4 and 8 years old?

Here's a link for Best Movies for 6-10 year olds.

Next might be the Narnia series, Shrek, the Incredibles

Another Top 50 list includes some good ones:

Ratatouille (2007)
Finding Nemo (2003)
The Lion King (1994)
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Of course, most Disney movies and Hayao Miyazaki movies can be good. Animal flicks can be good too...So many good movies, the problem is choosing which one for this Friday.

2011年3月10日木曜日

On Watching "Crossing" (Korean 2008)

Tonight I watched "Crossing", a Korean film about escaping from North Korea based on the true story of a defector named Yoo Sang-joon. Very painful to watch. Assuming it is true, it is gut-wrenching reminder of how inhumane the dictatorship of N. Korea is to its own people, and how fortunate we are to live in a country with basic needs and liberties.

As tragic as the story is, I highly recommend watching it. I plan to show it to my kids when they are ready for a story like this.

http://www.crossing-movie.jp/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyYilOhGw40

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_(2008_film)



The Wikipedia article mentioned that this was submitted as the S. Korea piece for the foreign language film category of the 2009 Academy Awards, but it did not get a nomination to the short list. That was the year the Japanese film Departures (Okuribito), one of my all time favorites for Japanese films, won.

Apparently one reason this film did not get on the short list was a controversy of plagiarism and "story-stealing" from one director. It is unfortunate that such as valuable story would be marred by such allegations.

Despite that, the film is a must-see. Everyone not only in East Asia but around the world should be aware of the inhumane conditions that the people of N. Korea are being forced to suffer in as we speak.

My personal view, amateur view, is that the only way to help conditions improve is to end (not strengthen) various types of embargos and open up trade and exchange with the country on a civilian level in every way possible. The leadership and military of N. Korea are going to fund themselves well regardless of any embargo, but trade will allow the development of civilian ties and wealth even if on a small scale after the military takes its cut. As the country gets more information, opportunity to travel and meet, and channels to communicate with the outside, and as it becomes aware of the freedoms and wealth of other countries, pressure to change will grow from within the military elite itself...N. Korea's isolation has to be ended and the people have to be freed from this oppression. I want to support the groups that are helping defectors escape and tell their stories.

The world needs to know and take action.