c!i%i%B~&~W& The Japan Association for Language Teaching On JALT96 orders
The Proceedings of the JALT 1996 International Conference on Language Teaching and Learning
Editors
Steve Cornwell l Peggy Rule l Toshiko Sugino TH€
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E-mail: The Proceedings of the 23rd Annual JALT International Conference on Language Teaching/ Learning Hiroshima, Japan November 1996 EDITORS Steve Cornwell Peggy Rule Toshiko Sugino August 1997 Tokyo ON JALT96: Crossing Borders JALT Conference Proceedings: An annual volume produced by the Conference Publications Committee of the Japan Association for Language Teaching JALT President: Gene van Troyer Publications Board Chair: Bill Acton Cover Design/graphics: based on a design by Richard Parker Japanese inputting: Kiyori Azukizawa, Cynthia Masumi Soga Layout: Steve Cornwell Proofreaders: Tim Allan, Kiyori Azukizawa, Susan Gilfert, William Kumai, Scott Rule, Matthew Taylor, and Patricia Thornton Editorial Advisory Board: Carolyn Andrade, Andrew Barfield, Stephen Brivati, Robert Gettings, Paul Lewis, Laura MacGregor, Barry Mateer, Ian Nakamura, Scott Rule, Stephen Ryan, Brad Visgatis, Tamara Swenson, Daniel Walsh Special Thanks: Osaka Jogakuin Junior College CALL & LRC departments, Tomoko Kakutani, Eiko Kato, Scott Rule, Tamara Swenson, Gene van Troyer Copyright © by the Japan Association for Language Teaching All rights reserved. Printed in Japan. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form whatsoever without written permission of JALT, except in cases of brief quotations embodied in scholarly articles and reviews. For information address Conference Proceedings, JALT Central Office, Urban Edge Bldg. 5th Floor, 1-37-9 Taito, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110, Japan Fax: 03-3837-1631 Cataloging Data Cornwell, Steve; Rule, Peggy; Sugino, Toshiko (eds.) On JALT96: Crossing Borders Bibliography: p. 1. Applied Linguistics—CALL, Intercultural Communication, Language Testing, Second Language Learning, Second Language Teaching, Peace Studies, Global Issues, Sociolinguistics, Teacher Development I. Title. 1997 ISBN: 4-9900370-3-6 (JALT96 Conference Proceedings) ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Section One: Introduction Crossing Borders: Some Values to Declare ...... 2 Julian Edge Opening Borders with World Englishes: Theory in the Classroom ...... 10 Braj B. Kachru Section Two: Teacher Development Mosaics of Teacher Development and Socialization ...... 22 Andrew Barfield, Paul A. Beaufait, Sean Conley, Tim Murphey, & Katsura Haruko Questions about Teaching? Answers from Teachers! ...... 28 David Cozy, Atsuko Kashiwagi, Eugenia Medrano-Endo, Christopher Jon Poel, Spencer Weatherly What Makes a Good Language Lesson (Part 2) ...... 34 Stephen M. Ryan Understanding Instructions Survey: Less Anxiety, More Interaction ...... 39 Duane Kindt More Students Account for their Poor English skills ...... 44 Lana Yuen Exploring Teacher Education through video ...... 48 Eric Reynolds & Mark O'Neil Crosscultural Aspects of Teachers' Roles ...... 52 Barbara H.Wright Materials Writers NSIG Workshop: Professional Critique of Preliminary Textbook Manuscripts ...... 56 Ian B. Gleadall Section Three: In the Classroom Cooperative Learning at the Post-Secondary Level in Japan ...... 60 Steve McGuire, Patricia Thornton, David Kluge Shared Inquiry Fosters Critical Thinking Skills in EFL Students ...... 67 Carol Browning, Jerold Halvorsen, Denise Ahlquist Story Grammar: A Reading and Discussion Strategy ...... 71 Gregory Strong The Use of Japanese Literature in Reading Classes ...... 75 Sachiko Ikeda FL Reading and Multi-Media: Psycholinguistic Views ...... 80 Syuhei Kadota, Masao Tada, Yuko Shimizu, & Shinji Kimura Vocabulary Building with Student Selected Words ...... 85 Robin Nagano An analysis of particle usage Ga-O conversion (In Japanese) ...... 90 Takako lshida Creating a Writing Environment for Real Beginners ...... 94 Joyce Roth Preparing Students to Write in their Disciplines ...... 96 Thomas Orr Writing and peer Feedback Tasks ...... 101 Guy Kellogg &L. Scott Rogstad iii Conversation Strategies, Timed Practice, and Noticing in Large Oral Communication Classes ...... 106 Tom Kenny Amaterasu and the Power of Dance in the Classroom...... 111 David Bell The Process of Revising Tests and Creating Parallel Forms ...... 115 Alan Hunt & David Beglar Continuous Assessment Facilitated by CAI ...... 119 Colin Painter Section Four: Using Technology in the Classroom Concept-Acquisition:Tapping the Internet for Ideas ...... 128 Jack Kimball Making Reading more Manageable-The Choice Offered by On-line Newspapers and Magazines ...... 132 Anthony Robins Computerized Test and Material Production ...... 137 John Bauman Designing Genre-Based Materials to Use with Videos ...... 139 Damian Lucantonio Content Video in the EFLClassroom ...... 145 Michael Furmanovsky Section Five: Culture Towards True Multiculturalism: Ideas for Teachers ...... 150 Brian McVeigh Comparing Cultures through Critical Thinking: Development and Interpretations of Meaningful Observations ...... 154 Laurel D. Kamada Authority and Individualism in Japan and the USA ...... 158 AlisaWoodring Study Trip to France (in French) ...... 168 Alain Lauffenburger Everything You Need to Know Begins at Kindergarten ...... 174 Laura MacGregor Native Americans and Europeans, Ainu and Wajin: Culturally Relevant EFL Content-Based Social Studies Comparative History Design at a Japanese Junior College ...... 177 Robert E. Gettings Folklore in theESL Classroom ...... 182 Virginia A. Jenkins Redefining our Educational Parameters with the Model United Nations ...... 186 Eton F. Churchill, Jr. Commonly Asked Global Issues Questions ...... 190 Jessica Newby Kawata, David Peaty, Donna McInnis, & Junko Mukainakano Geography in the Global Issues Classroom ...... 193 Jessica Newby Kawata Gender Issues in Language Education ...... 196 Thomas Hardy, Amy Yamashiro, Cheiron McMahill Culture, Variation, and English Language Education ...... 199 Yamuna Kachru iv Section Six: Linguapax UNESCO Linguapax at JALT96 ...... 212 Kip Cates Language Education for World Peace ...... 214 Felix Marti Linguapax, Language Learning, and Technology ...... 219 Denis Cunningham Modern Language Teaching after the Year 2000 ...... 224 Reinhold Freudenstein Colloquium: Linguapax, Language Teaching, and Peace Education ...... 228 Kip Gates, Felix Marti, Denis Cunningham, Madeleine du Vivier, Albert Raasch, & Reinhold Freudenstein Section Seven: Final Panel JALT Final Panel Crossing Borders: Making Connections ...... 236 Kip Cates, Denis Cunningham, Albert Raasch, Braj B. Kachru, & Carol Rinnert JALT96: Final Panel ...... 241 Braj B. Kachru Abstracts Abstracts ...... 244 V Section One Introduction On JALT96: Crossing Borders Crossing borders: Some values to declare Julian Edge Aston University many-faceted theme. Before I do, however, I know that many of you will recognize let us spend a few more moments in the music that was playing before this talk consideration of the function and force of began: it was a track from the 1989 Ryuichi this talk of mine. What is the point of Sakomoto album, Beauty. The music plenary talks? What are you hoping for crossed many borders in the making and from this one? What are you expecting? has crossed many more in being played. Please take just thirty seconds of our time The musicians are from Japan, the USA, and together to think about it. Senegal (at least), and I think that Mexico Let me now give you my perspective. I and Britain are involved, too. With nine have been involved in TESOL since 1969. hours difference between Japan and Britain, Typical of my age and nationality, I entered I found the the ‘Good Morning/Good TESOL without proper training and with no Evening’ lyric irresistible. And as for, real sense of vocation for teaching as a Where are you?‘, the question has been career. In defence of that dual admission, I much in my mind of late concerning my think it is fair to say that not many people family and I’ve asked it once or twice of had much of a clue at that time about what a myself as I’ve woken up in beds at several proper training for TESOL might look like, points from Sapporo on south during my and that the passing time has shown quite exhilarating ‘Four Comers of Japan’ tour, clearly and sometimes cruelly that the idea The music is meant as an illustration of a “career” in TESOL is not something that and as a metaphor. It also provides me with a person like myself should rely on. There a context in which to say that when I heard has been a succession of fixed-term jobs that the theme of this year’s JALT punctuated by relatively short periods of Conference was to be Crossing Borders, my unemployment. I have been lucky heart sang. I do hope that that response is When I sketch that background, I as widely reported as my now infamous identify myself as one of those people who remark on the conference theme, Back to have earned a living travelling from one Basics’ of two years ago, when I admitted country to another, working in other that my heart sank. people’s education systems. This is a The idea of bordercrossing resonates at background which some people here will be so many levels and in so many ways: the able to relate to easily, and some not. All we physical, the cultural, the political, the can do at this point is to be clear about that geographical, the psychological, the social, fact, and hope that the clarity helps people the personal - and that is without even with very different backgrounds decide to beginning to consider what might be seen as what extent what I have to say is of interest the core, professional borders of language or relevance to them. and pedagogic style which we cross daily in I am trying to put into practice here a our necessarily cross-cultural TESOL lesson I learnt over many years. At one stage activities. of my work, I did indeed go to other Honoured as I am by the invitation to people’s countries and tell them how they speak to conference as a whole, I see it as a should teach English. Some were responsibility to attempt to address this enthusiastic about what they heard. When 2 Introduction they were not, I took their lack of ago. The first twelve-year cycle of this enthusiasm for the methodological particular Rat was as a child in the post-war suggestions I brought as a lack of industrial midlands of England. It was all understanding, or lack of vision, or lack of about being a child in a loving family. desire to keep up with the times. I don’t do The second cycle was about getting an that anymore. education the like of which no one in my I find that my statements have lost their family had ever had. Those were probably “should”. I find that I am much more the most difficult borders I ever crossed, committed to trying to understand the way because there was no one to come back and things are, and in showing how I (and warn me about the particular rites of sometimes others) have gone about finding passage involved, and I wasn’t mature or out how things are, for ourselves, in sophisticated enough to know about the different places, at different times. I am available records, from Great Expectations committed to the idea of development; I am to Room at the Top. I remember very clearly also convinced that we have, in the past, too losing my childhood, neighbourhood frequently concentrated on new goals and friends because I passed the examination for directions, without paying enough attention the clever ones, and went to the posh school to the building of a proper understanding of on the other side of the city. And I the way things actually are, from our own remember particularly well one teacher who perspectives, and from the perspectives of made fun of those of us who gave away, those with whom we live and work. The when we spoke, just where we came from. next step in our own appropriate It is only with hindsight that I select a development will arise from that coherence for this narrative, but it provides understanding, and is neither feasible nor for me a strong, personal reminder of the desirable without it. losses and hurt involved in some border- Let me also say, in passing, that I have crossings which one does not, at the same enough of a sense of self-irony to hear in time, in any way regret. The resonances what I am saying the difference between the with foreign language learning am clear to opinions of a young man and a middle-aged me. The challenge is to extend one‘s man. Quite certainly. That is who I am. identity without losing it. That is also That is what I have to offer. All this is really where and when I learned about the value quite insidious. No one can put up of unconditional love, as my parents resistance to this, because I’m not supported me through the outcomes of my suggesting anything. Everyone has to take decisions, right and wrong, about issues full responsibility for deciding whether none of us understood too well. what I have to say is of use or relevance to The third cycle was about learning to be them - and they are all right. a husband. It also brought me well into This talk is in that mode. I am going to TESOL and becoming, first, a language give your theme my best shot. And then it‘s teacher, then a language teacher who up to you. This isn’t about generalisations, wanted to investigate more about what it or generalisability, this is personal. was that I had gotten into, and then a I want to pick up two aspects of the language teacher involved in teacher border-crossing theme: one is a personal/ training. It was also about learning to live professional narrative, and the other is a in different countries and cultures, thus geographical/cultural meditation. As you acquiring a perspective on, and a dislocation would expect, and because our discourse from, my own country and culture which expectations speak us, just as we speak has remained with me. This feeling was them, I shall bring the two themes together captured for me very powerfully recently by at the end of the talk. a short poem of Earl Stevick’s (1996) which I’d like to read to you: A personal/professional narrative I’m 48 now. Born a Rat on the first day In firelight all of us sat of the Year of the Rat, 10 February 1948. down together, spoke Nineteen forty-eight. That’s a long time without holding back our thoughts, either our first 3 On JALT96: Crossing Borders thoughts or our deepest. was as though there were an unbroken The ashes cooled till we chain between his work with me, his work could sift them through with the teachers, and their work with their our fingers. learners. Then in the new morning The continuity expressed there is one sun we stretched and stood that I relate to, because it coheres to what I to take our homeward have elsewhere (Edge 1996b) called the paths but found not one. development parameter. What is important to me in my narrative is that it should be a My fourth cycle was very much to do continuing story of personal and with learning to be a father. It was spent professional empowerment; the borders living in Britain and travelling from it, and I which other people’s tellings impose on my was striving to live, in Edward Said’s life interest me, they may describe me, but (1993~385) expression, not in the nation, but they don‘t express me. in the world. I discovered action research, Let me focus for a few minutes on this and realised that that term captured my term, Empowerment. It is, I know, a rather aspirations to forge understanding out of passe term in some circles, and it has practice. It helped me make sense of my certainly been more abused than some. Let conviction that, as teachers, we do not need me say a few words about what I mean by theories to apply in practice, so much as we it: need ways to explore and understand - to My best attempt to break down the theorise, in fact - what our experience is composite meaning of empowerment trying to teach us. I stopped seeing produces four aspects: authority, ability academics as necessarily useless wallies, responsibility and respect. because I realised that some people now By authority, I don’t mean power over saw me as an academic. others, I mean to emphasise the ‘author’ And I have a reasonably clear view of part of the word. I mean making sure that I the sixth cycle. I honestly feel that, all things am doing what 1 can in my context to be the being equal, I shall want to find out much author of my own life. more about gardening before I get too old to In order to do this increasingly, I want do it. to improve my abilities in those areas where You may have noticed that I missed out I feel that my growth will enhance my sense the fifth cycle. That is now. That’s what of self-authorship. makes it difficult. We can reinvent the past, This growth must take place in a way through the mysterious, constructive which is socially responsible and, as I take process known as memory, in order to make on more responsibility for my actions, I also it and ourselves coherent. We can do the want to claim more responsibility for their same for the future, through the mysterious, outcomes, which I need to inform myself constructive process known as imagination. about. But the present makes different demands, As I come to formulate my own and I want to face up to them. with you. decisions, and find my own way, I do so in now. the realisation that my right to reach In one version of this story, I have personal conclusions can be protected only crossed professional borders from being a by a respect for the rights of others to reach teacher, to being a teacher trainer, to being different conclusions. an academic. I acknowledge that version of There is no issue here of hierarchies of the story although it doesn’t feel like that to status of employment. That is not what me. I live more happily in a version of my empowerment, as I am using the term, is role more like the one a graduate of our about. My empowerment might have taken master’s program at Aston sent me lust many forms; some of them would have before I left Britain a few weeks ago. He involved my remaining committed to full- said that now he was more involved in time language teaching, and some of them teacher training, he found that the work we would have meant my leaving language had done together on our own development teaching altogether. Nor am I saying that as teachers was having a definite effect. It empowerment necessarily involves some . 4 Introduction kind of action research, or that an Diversity . . .because we have ceased to investigative approach to teaching is the believe that there is a single best way of best way to be a teacher. I am observing learning a foreign language, or of teaching that, as a person-who-teaches, this search for one - not because of a failure of method or of ongoing empowerment is one way of living. research, but because it is a wild goose (I have to note in passing that Huberman’s chase, a misunderstanding of what is (e.g. 1989) research into teachers’ lives involved, the wrong question. suggests that it is those teachers who have Inquiry. . . because this absence of a neither stuck to what they learned in early single best way commits us to the idea of training, nor become involved in radical continually investigating our work in order experiments who reach the end of their to try to understand it better. working lives with the greatest sense of Cooperation . . . because in order to satisfaction, and the least signs of burnout increase one’s understanding of a human or cynicism. These are the people who have process, such as teaching, one needs to quietly “tinkered” with their teaching, cooperate as closely as possible with the sometimes questioning the ends and always people involved in that process: our trying out variations on the means.) students and colleagues. Intellectually, if we are attracted by the And, once again, this approach can be domain of academic debate, we can see this built only in a context of respect for others, position as being in tune with post-modern whose diverse cooperative investigations thinking about the human situation. We will lead them onto different paths. have turned away from the search for grand Here is where I have to shift from a explanations of life, the universe, and focus on personal/professional issues to everything (including Second Language geographical/cultural ones. Acquisition), and work rather as intellectual/cultural bricoleurs, improvising A geographical/cultural meditation responses in situations which need to be How well do these values which we understood from the inside. As Gore have discussed cross geographical and (1993:49) puts it: cultural borders? Let me share with you some reports from teachers in different . . . . It seems to me that there is settings. They are all teachers with whom I something about the educational have worked over the last few years. I enterprise that leads to the local, asked them to comment on their experiences partial, and multiple foci of in response to the question: To what extent poststructural theories: there is is an approach based on self-development something about the lives of those and respect for individual difference in classrooms, as well as the lives of appropriate across cultures? social “classes”, about activities that What I want to show you today are deal with people as thinking some extracts from the raw data of initial feeling individuals, that requires responses. They are not interpreted, or part the phenomenological, personal of an argument as such. Nor are they accounts of multiplicity and comfortably positive. I offer them here contradiction that are beginning to because they do allow the voices of these emerge in the work of feminist teachers into this discourse, and give at least poststructuralists in education. an indication of the reality of the question to people who teach and come to terms with At the same time, we do not have to their lives in different parts of the world. AS approach our teaching only, or perhaps even you listen to them, I invite you to use your most importantly, as an intellectual issue. imagination and your understanding, and to At the heart of this work are the values that try to see things the way they do. we express in the work that we do. 1 should like to suggest that some of those core From eastern Europe, two responses values are, for me at least, connected with from westerners working there: issues of: Diversity, Inquiry and 1. As a teacher, I do not think one can Cooperation. . pronounce oneself committed to non- 5 On JALT96: Crossing Borders interference in another’s belief system; lectures covering a wide range of topics merely stating new facts, one’s opinion, or were given mainly by the British lecturer on making new information available, the project and attended by all the interferes . . . . . departmental staff who were interested in Within the first year of teaching here, I those topics...... strongly believed my ‘learner autonomy The second stage tended to move away approach did not suit all learners and, as my from an all-purpose lecture form to some colleague began to teach in the same way, I more concentrated areas. Usually, teachers felt some pupils suffered. It threatened their who taught the same course or had the same security and disempowered them. She later interest met in small groups to discuss in reverted and again some pupils suffered for detail things they were all concerned about. being too honest, although she had At this stage, the input, or resource, was not encouraged it...... only provided by the “foreign expert” but I have given up speaking out, also the returned Chinese counterparts who withdrawn into myself and do not even do had been trained in Britain...... my own thing to my own satisfaction. Now, it’s time for the third stage, Cooperative Development At this final 2. So this was a bit of a paradox. New stage of the teacher education program, the methodology was seen largely as ideas and format is narrowed down from a small gimmicks, rather than a reai shift of group to an individual...... During the responsibility for learning from the teacher third stage, teachers would like to go even to the learner. In a culture where personal deeper into some specific issues which they responsibility has for so long been may not want to share with too many anathema, there is a large degree of people, but just one or two whom they trust ambivalence: Yes, give us the new, but only and would like to talk over in depth. at a shallow level, because we are used to being able to blame others if things don’t And from an American, long-term work. resident in Japan: I was in Kenya this summer and had a From an Irish person working on the conversation with a Japanese man living in western European mainland: Nairobi and an Englishwoman visiting from In my own context, I feel that the where she is living in Japan. So all of us greatest threat to teacher development are were ex-pats. The concept of universal the economic forces which are leading values came up and I was amazed to find schools to cut educational corners and the Japanese man so “tolerant” towards emphasise the “service industry” aspect of other cultures that he could condone ANY EFL. We are being led (?) further away from behaviour based on the cultural context (it mainstream education into a vicious began with wife-beating). My self- competition for students (customers) with at confidence wavered for an instant as I the same time an erosion of teachers’ questioned my own level of “I’m OK, you’re salaries and working conditions. OK”. And then I thought, NO! There IS Professional self-development will such a thing as absolute WRONG regardless understandably take a back seat if teachers of culture. Who is wrong, the western feel that they are being exploited and that doctor who refuses to circumcise an African they cannot aspire to a quality of life adolescent female, or the mother who commensurate with their qualifications and demands the surgery? Is the doctor contribution to society. culturally insensitive or humanistic? . . . . . From a Chinese teacher educator The issues are not simple, nor do I returned to China: quote these individuals in order either to The rough picture I’ve got in my mind agree or disagree with them. They are now is a three-stage program: General authentic individual statements, not Lecture stage, Group Seminar stage, and generalisations, from the voices of Cooperative Development stage. committed professionals involved in the During the first stage, some open struggle for values they believe in, while 6 Introduction trying to understand the contexts in which experience is going to get in the way they work. As such, they demand respect. of efficient learning. What they also make very clear is the • The teacher and the book are the way in which considerations of values sources of knowledge and power. impact directly on pedagogy, on what • The most important issues here are happens in classrooms. At the risk of being accuracy and correctness. over-simplistic, one could say that the often • Another approach might be more heard cry of the teacher of English, ‘Now I likely to suggest: want you to get into groups,’ can only be •E My experience and knowledge is properly understood if it is seen as important here. implicating a set of underlying values which • My creativity is valued by my teacher would include the following: and my colleagues. • I shall have to take some • People can learn from each other, they responsibility for evaluating my do not always need a leader or progress. teacher. • Making mistakes is OK, and I can • Developing an ability to work learn from them. autonomously is important. • The process of working things out Of course, one cannot simply tie values together is more important than to techniques, but values will find their knowing any single correct answer. expression, some approaches will be more • There may be no correct answer. amenable than others, and there is a • You can solve your own problems by cumulative effect of the regular practice of defining them, gathering the relevant what becomes ‘usual.’ information, and sharing it My point is that I can see why some constructively people would call work in this latter mode an attempt to introduce disruptive values These are values which, if expressed into other people’s societies. We may talk openly and acted on outside the classroom, about a “free market”, but them is not much could get a person into serious trouble in freedom for individuals or countries at the many countries. It is not a coincidence that present historical moment about whether or TESOL has developed a methodological not to learn English. The commercial and approach based on these values. Nor, I military facts of life suggest that it is a suggest, is it so much as a result of SLA sensible means to one’s own ends. research as it is an expression of the way And to the extent that English is taught that we want to live. Who is this, “we”? in the ways devised and spread by the Well, anyone who wants to sign up to these travelling TESOL community and others values. Is this ideological neo-imperialism? trained in its ways, the teaching will either Well, it’s not far off. introduce the values on which it has been If you find that I’m going too far here, based, or it will make no sense and wither you might, at a quieter moment, like to read away I believe that we see both outcomes a (1993) paper by Earl Stevick called Social all around us. meanings for how we teach. A difficulty for me is that, once again, I He goes through two possible ways of am who I am and, as a person-who-teaches, using a picture-plus-dialogue piece of this necessarily value-laden approach is material, and draws out the kinds of what I have to offer. I want to work subliminal message which learners might sensitively with people from other cultures, receive from the variations in method. In with other values, and I am certainly one case, the message might be along the prepared to amend my teaching in order to lines that make it acceptable (indeed, comprehensible) to people from other backgrounds. • Someone has decided that it is good Obviously, if I think I am sending signals for me to learn these forms by which are meant to encourage creativity, in a copying them. situation where students are understanding • Any contribution from my life or that I am a teacher who is not properly in 7 On JALT96: Crossing Borders control of what they are supposed to be don’t want to cooperate with people who doing, I am not working well as any kind of pretend to be have one purpose in mind, but teacher. But it is likely that, whatever are secretly, in fact, committed to another. I ‘compromises’ (note the word) I make in am very keen to go on communicating with order to teach, I shall probably also be all these people. I believe that I can come to working to move the students in a direction understand the situation better. But if the which will allow me to be the best teacher people I am communicating with believe which I believe I can be. I mean that to be that they already have all the answers, or understood as an admission, not as a boast. that effective communication is possible I hope to learn more. In the meantime, I without transparency of purpose, then the hope that the open declaration of my values, negotiations will be difficult. These are two and the linking of them with my teaching, of my limitations. will protect me against the charge of covert Still on my map, I have a terrain of cultural neo-imperialism which I would borders between groups of people with otherwise acknowledge as justified. I different values and traditions, purposes declare the values . I can’t really do any and ways, who are nevertheless united by a more. respect for diversity, a desire to understand These are certainly not straightforward more, and a willingness to cooperate (Edge questions and, moreover, some borders are 1996a). This is where my personal narrative mom difficult than others. and my cross-cultural meditation come I cannot pretend that there are not together. borders here which I will not cross. In our own field of operation, for example, I cannot In-between-ness extend my respect to people who would In his quietly profound and elegant justify the killing of a translator because book, A Little Search For A Better World As they felt that the book he translated was A Basis for Education, Shigeki Kato writes offensive to their religious beliefs, as was the that (1988:i) ‘An idea is none the less fate of Professor Hitoshi Igarashi following valuable for being told again so long as it is the translation of The Satanic Verses. I of true value.’ regard his death to be a marker on the single 1 have no doubt that the idea I wish to most important cross-cultural border of my repeat to you is of true value; you will have lifetime. In fact, even in this city of peace, I to judge how well I tell it, and the feel constrained to identify it as a potential appropriacy of the telling. battle line. Nor can I respect an attitude Our prevailing image of crossing which attempts the covert export of borders is of moving from one area, or stage ideology or religion under the cloak of to another. That is certainly the way I have language teaching - it seems to me that a test used the expression so far. Yet a great deal of one’s sincerity is the explicit transparency of contemporary writing on culture (e.g. of one’s purpose. Bhabha 1994, Maclure 1996, Said 1993: 395- These are not comfortable things to say, 408) stresses the importance of in-between- but I find it necessary to be honest about the ness, of new hybrids which do not resolve border-crossings of which I am not capable, themselves in terms of eitheror-ness. The if I am to make sincere claims about the musicians whom we heard at the beginning bordercrossings of which I am.. We attempt of this talk did not come together in order to to respect diversity as we meet it, and we play Japanese, or Senegalese, or American attempt also to find the courage and the music; they came together in order to shift means, in Edward Said’s (1994:63) resonant the location of culture out of those old phrase, to ‘speak truth to power.’ settings. As I have already said, I live My map, then, is perhaps finally somewhat dislocated from the culture that bounded by a sense of respect for difference originally produced me, and I like it here. I and by transparency of purpose. I do not feel empathy with those who live in the want to cross that boundary and live in spaces between borders, and work to areas where versions of truth, reality and dissolve those borders, as well as with those correctness are decided by others, and then who cross them. imposed on the rest of the population.. I 8 Introduction Whether we see ourselves as taking on References one of these roles or both, it is in these Bhabha, H. 1994. The Location of Culture. border areas that we, by definition, live and London: Routledge. work. As human beings, we cross borders Edge, J. 1996a. Cross-cultural paradoxes in in order to do that work. As teachers, let us a profession of values. TESOL Quarterly pause to think of our title once more: 30 19-30. Edge, J. 1996b. Crossing crossing borders focuses less on borders to borders: The development parameter. be crossed, or borders having been crossed, The Language Teacher 20/10 10-13. than on the process of crossing, the brief Gore, J. 1993. The Struggle for Pedagogies: verbal act caught up in an eternity of Critical and Feminist Discourses as nominalisation. The inspirational image Regimes of Truth. London: Routledge. which comes to my mind is that of the Huberman, M. 1989. The professional life bodhisattva known in Japan, I believe, as cycle of teachers. Teachers College Record Mi-kaeri Kannon. As I know the story, 91/1: 31-57. having achieved enlightenment, she paused Kato, S. 1988. A Little Search for a Better on the threshold of nirvana and looked World as a Basis for Education. Aichi, back. Empathising with the rest of Japan: The Office Service. humanity left behind, she remained (and Maclure, M. 1996. Telling transitions: remains) there, on the threshold, not quite Boundary work in narratives of crossing over, in order to ensure that the becoming an action researcher. British gateway remains open for others. Probably Educational Research journal 22/3 273- the most transcendent vision of in-between- 286. ness that we have available. Said, E. 1993. Culture and Imperialism. 1 am not so presumptuous as to suggest London: Chatto & Windus. that we can hold open the gates of heaven, Said, E. 1994. Representations of the but I am attracted by our potential role in Intellectual. London: Vintage. keeping open, and sometimes perhaps even Stevick, E. 1996. Personal communication. helping to dissolve the borders on earth. Stevick, E. 1993.. Social meanings for how That is the old idea I wished to repeat, and we teach. In J. Alatis (Ed.) Georgetown the image with which I should like to leave University Roundtable on Language and you. Linguistics 1992: Language, Thank you. Communications and Social Meaning (pp. 428-434). Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. 9 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Opening Borders with World Englishes: Theory in the classroom Braj B. Kachru University of lllinois at Urbana, IL. 1 Introduction maintain that power (see, e.g., Kachru 1986a In the title of this paper I am using the and 1986b, Pennycook 1994, Phillipson 1992, dynamic metaphor “opening borders” in a Tollefson 1995, Tsuda 1994a and 1994b). specific sense consistent with my earlier But turning to the various dimensions conceptualization of world Englishes. The of the multicanonicity and multi-culturalism concept of “opening borders” with world of world Englishes and their relevance to Englishes is not quite identical to how this opening borders, I have in mind the metaphor has been used in current debate following: in, for example, the USA. When Lawrence W. Levine addresses this issue, in his The • The cross-cultural and pluricentric Opening of the American Mind (1996), he is functions of English; essentially providing arguments against the • The concept “speech community” of positions of, for example, Allan Bloom’s The English, which is erroneously Closing of the American Mind (1987) and a believed to be essentially monolithic, series of such books by D'Souza (1991), but in reality is pluralistic; — Bennett (1992) and Bernstein (1994) to • The broad theoretical frameworks name just three. that were traditionally used for I would like to provide arguments for defining language acquisition, the use of the fast-increasing body of world language transfer, and language Englishes as a resource, as a key, to crossing acculturation; and borders and barriers of various typess-- • The relationship of this altered cultural, linguistic, ethnic, and social. This conceptualization to pedagogical important dimension of English is, I believe, goals and to the ELT profession. relevant to the major focus of this year’s JALT Convention. This indeed is a broad canvas. I will There are also pragmatic and only peripherally touch the issues that these ideological dimensions to world Englishes: dimensions of English raise. There is now an these are multicanonicity and increasing body of conceptual and empirical multiculturalism. These two important studies which bring African, Asian, and components are not generally being other perspectives to this debate. articulated in our profession. There is a I am using the term “borders” in the variety of ideological, economic, and rather specific sense of the barriers which political motivations for that lack of stand between us and other. And here other attention. This ominous silence is may be defined in linguistic, cultural, and, particularly marked in what Susan Butler indeed, ideological terms. These has called “the ELT empire” (1996). characteristics create, as we have seen, In what has been called the post- psychological, attitudinal, and other Imperial period, the ELT Empire has borders-both real and imaginary. It is these acquired unparalleled power. There are now borders which are difficult to cross over. The several serious and welldocumented difficulties are partly imaginary, and to a studies which discuss how various active large extent motivated by underlying strategies are used to sustain, stabilize, and 10 Introduction ideological, conceptual reasons. But them is And with such functions of English, the more to it. There are issues of power and linguistic center of the language has already economic interests involved here. We should moved-slowly, gradually, but certainly-- not ignore the fact that, as The Times (24 Oct. from its former major linguistic epicenter, 1989, p.14) reported, “Britain’s real black from its traditional center of creativity, of gold is not North sea oil, but the English innovations and, I might add, of authority of language. . . ." Britain is “selling English by codification. the pound” (ibid). And the USA and And now we--all of us-can use this Australia are not far behind in this key for crossing cultural and linguistic commercialism. borders, but only if we make a distinction Let me consider the specific case of between English as a medium and English Japan. In Japan, when the demand is made as a repertoire of pluralism. A repertoire of for “internationalization,” the underlying ideologies, of ways of life and living in motivation is to find means to cross the distinctly different cultural contexts, and of borders of the types I just mentioned--to thought patterns and creativities-and, open intellectual windows, as it were, to let indeed, of innovations which articulate ideas of other cultures come into Japan, to various types of crossovers: the African, the establish channels of understanding and Asian, the South and North American, and communication across cultures. the East European. And the search for discovering a "key" The medium refers to the form of the to initiate such linguistic cross-over is not language, and the messages are those of only recent. As we know, it is this search for diverse cross-cultural functions. However, it a “key” for cross-cultural and crosslinguistic is the medium-the linguistic form-that communication that has motivated has undergone the process of proposals for a variety of constructed internationalization. The medium has artificial languages. acquired diverse and multiple functional In the past, various visionaries have conventions; it has acquired new meanings constructed over six hundred such by its functions in diverse traditions and languages, which include Esperanto (1887) cultures-in Asia, in Africa, and in other by a Polish physician; Volapuk (1880) by a parts of the world. And when we say that German bishop; Ido (1907) by a French English is “global,” or “international,” or logician; Interlingua by an Italian “universal,” what we are indeed referring to mathmatician; and Novial by the Danish is the repository of diversity: It is in this linguist Otto Jesperson. And such attempts sense that English is British, Scottish, have not as yet been abandoned, the latest American, Singaporean, Indian, Philippino one being Lincos, “a language for cosmic and, yes, Japanese. intercourse” (Freudenthal 1960, B. Kachru What we share as members of the 1992 [2nd Ed.]). What actually has international English-using speech happened, however, is that, in spite of this community is the medium-the vehicle for bounty of proposals, we have failed to the transmission of the pluralistic messages develop such a “culture-free” artificial of Englishes. We use the phonetic medium language. when we speak to each other. We use the There is, however, one natural language graphic medium when we write to each which has now acquired that cross-cultural other. The medium per se, however, has no identity-that is English, the linguistic constraints on what message-cultural, “key” which is being used for opening social, or ideological-we transmit through borders. At some places, and by some, this it. And through this shared medium we bordercrossing is done with exhilaration transmit multiple culturally constructed and with excitement. At other places, cross- messages and diverse views on life and cultural use of English is carried on with agony, and because of some pragmatic values. necessity and the success promised by the When we call English an international language. One thing, however, is clear: that medium, what we mean is that those who English has acquired cultural identities use English across cultures have a shared which no other language has acquired in the code of communication. The medium past. . provides, as it were, shifting “grids” 11 On JALT96: Crossing Borders through which we gain access to a variety of Pluricentricity and Interculturalism Western and non-Western cultures, There are indeed serious implications of ideologies, mythologies, philosophies, and the above conceptualization of English in other sociocultural contexts. We see this the world context. One major, and far- acculturation of the medium in, for example, reaching, implication is the PLURICENTRICITY of West African varieties of English. In this the language. That is, English has a region, as Okara says, English is used “to multiplicity of norms-both endocentric express our own ideas, thinking and and exocentric-multiple identities in philosophy in our own way” (1963:15-16). creativity, and distinct sociolinguistic This code is used and molded on its histories and contexts for function. In other users’ terms. We indeed share in our uses of words, it is now more apt to use the term English a large inventory of the sound “Englishes” than “English.” The speech system, the vocabulary, and the syntax. The community of English is, then, of two broad result of this shared competence is that, in types. I have labeled these as norm-providing spite of various types of differences, we and norm-dependent. believe that we communicate with each In the first group one traditionally other-one user of English with the other-- included, for example, the USA, the UK, and the Australian with an Indian, a Japanese Australia. Now-and this is important--one with a German, and a Singaporean with a has to include the varieties of English which North American. It is in this broad sense of are used essentially as additional intercultural interlocutors that we have one languages-additional to one, two, or more language, one medium, and multiple voices; other languages, as in India, Nigeria, as India’s C.D. Narasimhaiah says, ‘English Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines. The has been an effective aid to thinking globally pluricentricity of English is, of course, not while choosing to live locally. . ." (1991: viii). unique. There are, indeed, several other I have characterized the users of languages of wider communication which English in terms of the following three share this characteristic with English, e.g., Concentric Circles (see Kachru 1985 and Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, and Korean. The later). pluricentricity of English, however, as Three Concentric Circles of Englishes Caribean Countries Indonesia South Africa Zimbabwe Australia New Zealand Introduction compared with that of other languages of local radio station transmitting news wider communication, is unprecedented in English; and overwhelming in linguistic history. Its l that, in various parts’ of the world, nonnative users are substantially more than English has standard (educated) local numerous than its native users. varieties (acrolects), and a range of The spread of English and its other varieties (mesolects), and intercultural uses raise daunting questions “mixed” varieties with specific names concerning diversification, codification, (e.g., basilect, Nigerian pidgin, identities, cross-cultural intelligibility, and Singlish, Tex-Mex, Bazaar English); power and ideology The increasing power and of English has rightly been equated with the l that the initiatives in planning, proverbial Aladdin’s lamp—a medium that administration, and funding for the opens doors to other cultures, a repository spread of bilingualism in English is of functions and ideologies with no regional essentially in the hands of local frontiers. people. The language is used internationally, and in that sense it is an international It is, indeed, obvious that this global profile language. But that term is somewhat of English distinguishes it from other misleading. These international uses have languages of wider communication. not resulted in an international variety of English: There is no Internatinal English. Medium vs. Messages Earlier proposals for such an INTERNATIONAL This pluralism of the language has ENGLISH—structurally simplified and come at a price: And how high the price is culturally neutral—actually did not go very depends on whom one talks to. There is an far--e.g., Basic English, Nuclear English, articulate group who agonize over the and Utilitarian English. Thus, the pluralistic recognition of the multiculturalism and vision of English is in its international multiple identities of the language. Their culturally constructed functions, not in a concern is that the language is drifting from homogeneous international form. its exclusive Eurocentric, Judeo-Christian, The unprecedented nature of the and Western identity. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. diffusion of English, as compared with that is warning us about such people when he of other languages of wider says that cultural pluralism “is not, of communication-past and present-is in its course, everyone’s cup of tea” (Gates, Jr. unique global profile. Its major 1992: xvi). It certainly is not the cup of tea of characteristics are: “vulgar cultural nationalists” such as Allan Bloom and Leonard Jeffries, who “correctly l that there are now at least four identify it as the enemy.” Gates, Jr. has more nonnative speakers of English for to say: every native speaker who use English as a second or an additional These polemicists thrive on language--third, fourth, and so on; absolute partitions: between l that, in the Outer Circle, India is the “civilization” and “barbarism,” third-largest English-using country, between “black” and “white,” with over 40 million English users between a thousand versions of Us using English as an additional and Them. But they are whistling in language; the wind. l that, in the Expanding Circle, China has over 200 million EFL users with The “cultural nationalists” are reacting some competence in English; against the variety of the faces-the colors-- l that extensive creativity in English in of English users from various regions, againt various literary genres exists on every those who use the language with varied continent; competencies and associate it with diverse l that almost every major town in canons. These faces are not dormant and Anglophone Asia and Africa has at inarticulate; they are articulate in giving least one newspaper in English and a their own meanings to English; they use . 13 On JALT96: Crossing Borders English in their own socialization processes North America’s Rolando Hinojosa, and and with well-defined agendas. Sandra Cisneros; and Scotland’s James These “loose canons,” as Gates, Jr. Kelman. This is what I mean by multi- characterizes them, invoke reactions of cultural strands and innovations-the various types, and the result is what we see canvas is large and includes an abundance now: “culture wars,” and strategies for of cultures and types of creativity in one domination. These come in various forms, medium-English. The question is: Does one such form in Japan being ‘The English this dimension of world Englishes reflect in conversation ideology” (eikaiwa). I have our “ELT Empire”, in our curricula, in our discussed this in detail elsewhere (Kachru conceptualizations, and in our teacher 19%). training? Them is nothing intrinsic in the Dimensions Of Pluralism And language—in English—that made it Expansion Of The Canon “intercultural” or “multicultural.” That One might ask: Why is it important that change in the functions of English was not ELT specialists in JALT and other even on the educational or political agenda professional organizations recognize these of the colonizers. That, of course, is another dimensions of pluralism and story, and l will not go into it here. The multicanonicity of English? I believe that the language acquired its intercultural interculturalism of English-its contacts and components from its uses by many different convergences—is unique in linguistic groups on distant continents, for diverse history.2 The cross-cultural functions have cultural and interactional needs. With each altered the traditional regions of contact for new context of use, English gained new English in a very marked way: These are identities. Once these identities were now not only German, French, Italian, and institutionalized, the distance between one Spanish, but include Chinese, Hausa, Hindi, canon and another canon of English became Japanese, Malay Tagalog, Thai, Yoruba, and larger and larger. Thus, the intercultural so on (see B. Kachru 1994c). identities of English are not always the The infusion of pluralistic linguistic result of conscious planning. However, the energy in the language does not come only consequence of such intercultural identities from its traditional linguistic partners— has been the internationalization of the French, German, Italian, and a host of language. Scandinavian languages. The altered cimumstances—historical, cultural, political, Exponents Of The Institutionalization and linguistic—have opened up the Of Pluralism language, as it were, to the non-Western The intercultural identities of English world: a world of cultural and linguistic are expressed in many subtle ways, one contexts entirely alien to the earlier overlapping with the other, and each sociocultural and linguistic history of the contributing to distinct canons within one language. It is here that West Africa, East shared medium, which also manifests Africa, South Asia, West Africa, and the various cultural and linguistic identities-- Philippines--to name just a handful of Asian and African. We have to be aware of regions-become relevant to the confluence these exponents of English as a key to and expanding interculturalism of English. crossing borders. We have to be aware of That is how varied streaks of pluralism have four major exponents of such distinctiveness been added to the language. We see this in order to bring out the intercultural indeed in Africa’s Nguo#gio) wa Thiong’o, identities of the language. Wole Soyinka, Nuruddin Farah, Chinua The first exponent is variety specific Achebe, and Buchi Emecheta; in Caribbean’s nomenclature. That includes attitudinal, Sam Selvon, Roy Heath; in South Asia’s formal, and other markers that localize a Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao, Anita Desai, variety of English, e.g., Nigerian in Nigerian Bapsi Sidhwa, Shashi Tharoor, and Rohinton English or Singaporean in Singaporean Mistry; in East Asia’s Edwin Thumboo, English, and so on. The second is the Shirley Lim, Lloyd Fernando, and Cathrine processes of acculturation of the variety as Lim; in New Zealand’s Witi Ihimaera; in reflected in localized sociocultural and 14 Introduction interactional contexts. The third is which go into the creation of a new culture” institutionalized discourse strategies and speech (1993: 88). acts which are not necessarily shared with Soyinka's point is put in a larger the Inner Circle. perspective of a writer and his/her context The fourth is alteration of-or innovations by Achebe (1992: 34): in--textual texture due to use of English in multilingual contexts. Most African writers write out of an These strands of intercultural identities African experience and of have one thing in common: They represent commitment to an African destiny. the multilingual’s creativity. The For them that destiny does not multilingual’s slices of experience are often include a future European identity structured in his/her dominant language for which the present is but an and recreated in English. This creativity apprenticeship. differs from traditionally accepted norms of English in many ways. First, the drift of the But context is only the raw material. text is toward another canon. This point has One has to recreate it into the text and been repeatedly illustrated by the texts of reshape the medium to reflect it. Raja Rao, R. K. Narayan, Chinua Achebe, This takes me to what 1 have termed and others. In Raja Rao’s later work we see “the bilingual’s creativity” (1987). A major essentially the Vedantic tradition and the source for such creativity is the multilingual Sanskritization of the style. It is consistent context in which English functions as an with the ideological and metaphysical additional language. Nguogio (1992: 34; see context of the Sanskritic tradition in which also Jussawalla, et al., 1992) illustrates this Rao wrote, for example, The Serpent and tke point in the context of Kenya, where Swahili Rope. is the lingua franca and there are “national India’s Rao and Nigeria’s Achebe are languages” such as Cikuyu and Luo: “By two early writers from the Outer Circle who playing with this situation, you can get articulated their positions about their another level of meaning through the conscious identity-shifts in their use of interaction of all three languages.” English. They launched their credos for On the other hand, Soyinka emphasizes creativity with sensitivity and great vision-- the role experimentation can play in the use Rao as early as 1938 (see Kachru 1988c). The of “medium as the weapon.” He believes creativity in such texts has been explained that within various frameworks, including those of translation, transfer, transcreation, and [b]lack people twisted the linguistic relexification (see Kachru 1995 and earlier; blade in the hands of the traditional Oyeleye 1995; see also Y. Kachru 1987). cultural castrator and carved new The main characteristic of such writing concepts into the flesh of white is that of hybridization, both in linguistic supremacy. innovations and contextualization. It is through this "hybridity" that the text The result, says Soyinka, is “the conversion becomes intercultural. In other words, the of the enslaving medium into an insurgent medium is displaced or recontextualized weapon” (1993: 88). from its traditional underlying The conversion of the medium into an presuppositions—literary, cultural, and “insurgent weapon” results in ideological. demythologization processes of various When Soyinka (1993: 88) refers to the types. It takes us into legitimation of the “unaccustomed roles” of English in Africa, bilinguals’ creativity and into the he is referring to such a “reincarnation” of underlying cultural contexts of the “loose the language. This, as he says, has turned canons” of world Englishes. A number of the language into “a new medium of such “loose canons” are well communication.” In the African context, institutionalized: African-American, West then, English confronts, in Soyinka’s words, African, South African, South Asian, “a new organic series of mores, social goals, Southeast Asian—to name just five. — relationships, universal awareness . a11 of These “loose canons” have yet to enter 15 On JALT96: Crossing Borders the portals of what is considered the learned to understand American or British sacrosanct territory of traditional English culture: That motivation is only partly true. departments. There are well-articulated In reality, one major function of English attempts by the custodians of canonicity in teaching in Asia and Africa is to impart English to protect the Western canon: there native cultural values and traditions in is a call for “reclaiming our heritage” and a culturally and linguistically pluralistic rally to protect the purity of the canon from societies. English is thus used as a vehicle African, Asian, and Hispanic or African- for integrative functions in a national sense American intruders. It is here that JALT and (see, e.g., the statements of Chinua Achebe, its membership can open borders through a Raja Rao, Wole Soyinka, and Gabriel Okara variety of initiatives: by “opening,” as it given above). were, the curriculum to these intercultural dimensions of English; and by making such The model dependency myth: That an endeavor a part of what in Japan is EXOCENTRIC models of American or British termed the “internationalization campaign.” varieties of English are actually taught and learnt in the global context. In reality, the Culture Wars And “Loose Canons” ENDOCENTRIC (local) models provide major I have briefly mentioned the linguistic input. However, one must unprecedented diffusion of English in terms recognize that there is serious confusion of its range and depth: one referring to the among the users of English between what is intercultural functional range of the perceived to be the norm and actual linguistic language and the other to its societal behavior. penetration as varieties within a variety-- from acrolect to basilect to local pidgins. The cassandra myth: That diversification However, this intercultural nature of and variation in English across cultures is an English, the multiculturalism represented in indicator of linguistic decay, and that the medium and its message, continue to be controlling the decay is the job of native marginalized. There are a variety of reasons speakers as teachers of English literature for this.3 and language and as ESL professionals and One major reason for the continued professional organizations who are involved marginalization of varieties of English is the in the spread and promotion of English mythology that has been popularized about under various guides. The debate on this English, its acquisition, its messages, and its question still continues in all the circles of functions. I have earlier talked about these English (see, e.g., Bailey 1990). myths in various contexts earlier. And now, These myths keep us from considering the in the context of the JALT convention and its intercultural creativity in English(es) within focus, I am specifically thinking of just four an appropriate paradigm of pluralism. myths which are relentlessly maintained and cultivated in the profession, and which, There is more to these “culture wars” in my view, block the crossing of borders, than the above myths show. There are and supress the multiculturalism of English. further strategies being designed to use English as a linguistic export commodity for The interlocutor myth: That English is national, cultural, and economic interests. primarily learned to communicate with the There are questions being asked about the native speakers of the language (American, “ownership” of the language. One specimen British, Australian). The sociolinguistic fact of such “culture wars” is found, for is that most of the interaction in English example, in Roger Bowers, Assistant takes place among and between those who Director-General of the British Council. He use it as an additional language, for says that “the promotion of the English example, Japanese with Singaporeans, language is absolutely central” as one of the Nigerians with Indians, Germans with “Charter obligations” of the British Council Taiwanese, Koreans with Chinese, and so (see Bowers, 1995: 88). And he continues on. we want to maintain the position of The monoculture myth: That English is the English language as a world 16 Introduction language so that it can serve on the canonicity and a new concept of widest possible stage as the vehicle interculturalism. It is also a conflict between for our national values and the sanctity attributed to some heritage. . . . along with those of terminological sacred linguistic cows such other English-speaking nations. as “speech community,” “native speaker,” “norm,” and “standard.” In the specific case Bowers further observes that: of English and in the conceptualization of world Englishes, these concepts need Now this begins to sound like redefining. linguistic imperialism, and if Braj The concept of multi-canons and Kachru were here, he would resultant interculturalism in world strongly object (as he has in the Englishes is in conflict with the traditional past) to putting national before notion of what constitutes a canon. The first supranational interests and to point relates to diversity, a concept that is placing commerce before generally being viewed as an initiator of philosophy. chaos-linguistic and cultural. This attitude is clearly reflected in earlier research on It is this same tone of “national values and bilingualism and multilingualism in the heritage” that we find in the USA, in USA and is much discussed with reference Australia, and so on. The problem is that in to the “melting pot” hypothesis. Canada, the curriculum of ELT and in teacher Belgium, India, and Nigeria am thus viewed training the medium does not receive equal as cases of linguistic anarchy. opportunity to represent all these diverse Up to the 1950s the research of cultural strands in the language. academics in the USA on bilingualism and its limitations have not helped the situation. Discourse Of Marginality And The same attitude was present in earlier Paradigm Gap debates on code alteration. This takes me to The interculturalism in English as a the second point, that of intense negativism societal, literary, and pedagogical concept about bilingualism and pluralism, and has generally been perceived as a divisive about societies where such descriptions practice and as an intrusion on the apply. conventions of the canon. It has been seen as A partial list of such negative attitudes a step toward linguistic Balkanization and includes: as a threat to the Western canon. The variationist and multiculturalist approaches l that pluralistic societies am complex have been attacked as “liberation and their descriptions present linguistics” and as off-shoots of “liberation explanatory complexities; theology,” and innovations in creativity in l that writing grammars is difficult Asian and African Englishes have been anyway, but writing descriptions of characterized as “planned, managed, and bilinguals’ grammars is extremely promulgated by those who support a new complicated; tongue for new times” (Bailey 1990: 86). l that homogeneity and uniformity What we see is that intercultural should be emphasized in linguistic creativity suffers from an identity crisis. We and cultural descriptions; still do not have appropriate labels for it. l that language “mix” and “switch” are The labels we use seem to be like loaded attitudinally unacceptable, and weapons: Terraanglia, Third world violate linguistic “purism”; literature, Colonial literature, Post-colonial l that diversity-social, cultural, literature, and Commonwealth literature. linguistic-essentially leads to chaos; l that bilingual groups are considered Traditional Canonicity Vs. marginal and problem generating; Interculturalism and What is the major issue, then? It is one l that bi/multilingualism contributes to of conflict between a traditional concept of retarding materialistic growth. 17 On JALT96: Crossing Borders world Englishes have become an Shifting The Paradigm important resource. What is needed What I said above is only part of the is a pluralistic vision of models, story. However, the most complex part is norms, and canons that will use this initiating paradigm shift. There are several immense, unparalleled resource direct and indirect ways by which such a with sensitivity and shift can be initiated. They directly relate to understanding-locally and cross- developing awareness and engaging in a culturally. I have used here two fresh conceptualization of the field and in crucial words: sensitivity and applied research. These two dimensions are understanding. Sensitivity requires not mutually exclusive. The following list that the self-proclaimed custodians includes some aspects which we need to of the canon much recognize the emphasize: appropriations of what Gates, Jr. (1992) has termed ‘loose canons,” l sociolinguistic profiles within a though Gates specifically focuses theoretical conceptualization of on the African-American canon. world Englishes (see Kachru 1992b Understanding requires that the I1994b] and Sridhar 1986); profession recognizes the l pragmatics of a variety within a importance of the varieties of variety (e.g., Nigerian Pidgin, English, their creativity and literary basilects, Bazaar Hindi-Urdu); traditions, their unique functions, l range of functions and domains, and their vibrant, distinct voices, and depth in terms of the social the relevance of these voices to penetration of varieties of English, teaching, to curriculum, and to and their implications on choices of broader conceptualizations of appropriate styles, registers, and English studies. discourse strategies (Kachru 1988a); The present challenge of world l contrastive discourse and its Englishes can not be met with pragmatics in interactional contexts, earlier paradigms of language specifically related to identity, self, teaching and methodology and and acculturation; curriculum. We have to redesign l multilingual’s “mixing” and the world of English studies-and “switching” within that applies as much to the Inner multidimensionality of identities; and Circle as to other Circles of English. l the implication of research on The diffusion of English challenges intelligibility and the importance of the sacred linguistic and literary the “Smith triad” (see Smith 1992). cows of the profession: we have to redefine concepts such as “speech Conclusion community,” “native speaker,” and What I have attempted to do here is to “communicative competence” for raise some provocative and, indeed, English in a global context. That challenging questions: These uestions indeed is a great challenge to our relate to those dimensions of E nglish which profession in 1990s. our professional training does not include and which professional organizations do not Notes put on their agendas. By such omissions we 1. This paper incorporates several deprive ourselves-as professionals and as points discussed in detail in Kachru learners of English--of an abundant 1991,1992a and b, 1994a and b, and multicultural resource articulated via one 1995. A comprehensive overview of medium, and of the innovations in the topic is presented in Kachru ed. multilingual’s creativity expressed in world 1992b, and a state-of-the-art is Englishes. discussed in Kachru 1992 [1994b]. Let me engage here in self-plagiarism 2. For an extensive discussion and case and repeat what I have said in JALT’s The studies see World Englishes in Contact Language Teacher of October 1996: and Convergence, special issue of World Englishes, 1993, 13:2. By marginalizing the global uses 3. In several of my recent papers, I have of English, we are walling in an discussed this point with reference to important world vision for which various myths, myth-makers, and the . 18 Introduction discourse of marginality that has Realism: The English Lan age in the resulted from these myths (see Outer Circle.” English in the World, particularly 1992a and 1994a) One Teaching and Learning tk Language and must also question the use of some of Literatures, edited by Randolph Quirk the sacred linguistic cows with and Henry Widdowson. Cambridge reference the users of English around and New York: Cambridge University the world, for example, the terms Press. pp. 11-30. speech community, native speaker Kachru, Braj B. (1986a) The Alchemy of and so on (see Kachru 1988b). English: The spread, functions and models of non-native English. Oxford: Pergamon. References Reprinted 1990. Urbana: University of Achebe, Chinua (1992) Chinua Achebe. In Illinois Press. Interview with Writers of tk Post-Colonial Kachru, Braj B. (1986b) The power and World. Conducted and edited by Feroza politics of English. World Englishs 5.2-3, Jussawalla and R. W. Dasenbrock. pp. 121-140. Jackson & London: University Press of Kachru, Braj B. (1987) The bilingual’s Missisippi. creativity: Discoursal and stylistic Bailey, Richard (1990) English in its twilight. strategies in contact literature. In In The State of the Language. Edited by Discourse across cultures: Strategies in Christopher Ricks and Leonard World Englishes. Edited by L. E. Smith. Michaels. Berkeley: University of New York and London: Prentice-Hall. California Press. pp. 125-140. Bennett, William (1992) The de-volving of Kachru, Braj B. (1988a) ESP and nonnative America: the fight for our culture and our varieties of English: Toward a shift in children. New York: summit Books. Paradigm. In ESP in the classroom: Bernstein, Richard (1994) Dictatorship of Practice and evaluation, (ELT Documents virtue: Multiculturalism, and the battle for 128), edited by D. Chamberlain and R. J. American future. New York: A. A. Knopt. Baumgardner. London: Macmillan, pp. Bloom, Allan (1987) The closing of the 9-28. American mind: How higher education has Kachru, Braj B. (1988b) The spread of failed democracy and impoverished the English and sacred linguistic cows. In souls of today’s students. New York: Georgetown Round Table on Language and Simon and Schuster. Linguistics, 1987, edited by Peter H. Butler, Susan (1996) Arriving at a headword Lowenberg. Washington, D.C.: list in a variety of English not one’s Georgetown University Press. own. To appear in a volume in honor of Kachru, Braj B. (1988c) Toward expanding Mangred Gorlach. the English canon: Raja Rao’s Credo for D’souza, Dinesh (1991) Illiberal education: The Creativity. In World Literatures Today, politics of race and sex on campus. New IV.4 October. pp. 3-8. York: Free Press. Kachru, Braj B. (1991) Liberation Linguistics Forster, Leonard (1970) The Poet’s Tongues: and the Quirk concern. English Today 25, Multilingualism in Literature (The de 7.1.: 3-13. Carle Lectures at the University of Kachru, Braj B. (1992a) The second diaspora Otago 1968). Cambridge: Cambridge of English. In English in Its Social University Press (in association with Contexts: Essays in Historical University of Otago Press). Sociolinguistics, edited by Tim William Freudenthal, Hans (1960) Lincos: design of a Machan and Charles T. Scott. New language for cosmic intercourse. York: Oxford University Press, pp. 230- Amsterdam: North-Holland. 252. Gates, Jr. Henry Louis (1992) Loose Canons: Kachru, Braj B. (Ed.) (1992b) The Other Notes on the Culture wars. New York: Tongue: English Across Cultures. (2nd Oxford University Press. revised edition). Urbana, IL: University Jussawalla, Feroza, and Red Way of Illinois Press. Dasenbrock (1992) Interviews with Kachru, Braj B. (1994a) The speaking tree: A Writers of the Post-Colonial World. medium of plural canons. In Georgetown Jackson and London: University Press University Round Table on Languages and of Mississippi. Linguistics 2994. Edited by James E. Kachru, Braj B. (1985) “Standards, Alatis. Washington, DC: Georgetown Codification and Sociolinguistic University Press, pp. 6-22. 19 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Kachru, Braj B. (1994b) World Englishes: Pennycook, Alastair (1994) The cultural Approaches, issues and resources. In politics of English as an international Readings on Second Language Aquisition, language. London: Longman. edited by D. Brown and S. Gonzo, New Phillipson, Robert (1992) Linguistic York: Prentice-Hall. (an earlier version Imperialsim. Oxford: Oxford University in Language Teaching: The International Press. Abstracting Journal of Language Teachers Romaine, Suzanne (1992) English: From and Applied Linguistics January. village to global village. In English in its Cambridge: Cambridge University social context: Essays in Historical Press, pp. l-14. Sociolinguistics. Edited by Tim William Kachru, Braj B. (1994c) Englishization and Machan and Charles T. Scott. New York Contact Linguistics. World Englishes. and Oxford: Oxford University Press. 13.2.: 135-154. A slightly modified pp. 253-260. version in English in Language Planning: Rushdie, Salman (1991) Imaginary A Southeast Asian Contribution, edited by Homelands. Essays and Criticism. New Thiru Kandiah and John Kwan-Terry. York: Viking. Singapore: Time Academic Press. pp. Skutnab-Kangas, Tove (1984) Bilingualism or 19-49. Not-the education of minorities. Clevedon: Kachru, Braj B. (1995) Transcultural Multilingual Matters. creativity in world Englishes and Smith, L. E. (1992) Spread of English and literary canons. In Principle and Practice issues of intelligibility. In The Other in Applied Linguistics: In honour of Henry Tongue (2nd Edition). Edited by Braj B. Widdowson. Edited by Barbara Kachru. Urbana, Il: University of Seidlhofer and Guy Cook. Oxford: Illinois Press, pp. 75-90. Oxford University Press, pp. 271-287. Smith, L. E. and Nelson, C. L. (1985) Kachru, Braj B. (1996) Past imperfect: the International intelligibility of English: other side of English in Asia (to appear) Directions and resources. World Kachru, Yamuna (1987) Cross-cultural texts, Englishes, 4, pp. 333-342. discourse strategies and discourse Soyinka, Wole (1993) Art, Dialogue and interpretation. In Discourse across Outrage: Essays on literature and culture. cultures: Strategies in World Englishes. New York: Pantheon Books. Edited by L. E. Smith. New York and Sridhar, Kamal (1986) Sociolinguistics London: Prentice-Hall. pp. 87-100. theories and nonnative varieties of Lefevre, Andrea (1990) Translation: Its English. Lingua, 68, pp. 85-104. genealogy in the west. In Translation. Steiner, George (1975) Why English? History and Culture. London and New Presidential address delivered in 1975. York: Pinter Publishers. London: The English Association. Levine, Lawrence W. (1996) The opening of Thumboo, Edwin (1985) Twin Perspectives the American mind: Canons, culture, and Multi-ecosystems: tradition for a and history. Boston: Beacon Press. commonwealth writer. World Englishes. Naipaul, Vidiadhar S. (1973) India: A 4.2: 213-221. Wounded Civilization. New York: Knopf. Tollefson, J. W. (ed.) (1995) Power nnd Narasimhaiah, C. D. (1991) N for Nobody: inequality in language education. Autobiography of an English Teacher. Cambridge: Cambridge University Delhi: B.R. Publishing Corporation Press. Nguo#gio), wa Thiong’o (1992). Writers in Tsuda, Yukio (1994a) The hegemony of politics. London and Exeter, N. H.: English in international Heinemann. communication. Paper presented at the Okara, Gabriel (1963) African annual convention of International speech...English words. Transition 10 Communication Association. Sydney, (September) 15-16. Australia. Okara, Gabriel (1964) The Voice. London: Tsuda, Yukio (1994b) The diffusion of Heinemann. English: Its impact on culture and Oyeleye, A. Lekan (1995) Translation and communication. Keio Communication the African writer in English: A sample Review 16: 49-61. study of Achebe's TFA and NLAE. In Zabus, Chantal (1995) Relexification. In The Language in Nigeria: Essays in honour of Post-colonial studies reader. Edited by B. Ay@o Bamgbo@se. Edited by Kola Ashcraft, Gareth Griffith and H. Tiffin. Owolabi. Ibadan:. Group Publisher, pp. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 314-318. 20 Section Two Teacher Development On JALI96: Crossing Borders Mosaics of Teacher Development and Socialization Andrew Barfield Tsukuba University Paul A. Beaufait The Prefectural University of Kumamoto Sean Conley Kita Nihon Geos Tim Murphey Nanzan University Katsura Haruko, Moderator Hokkai Gakuen Daigaku Overview will have gone through over eight years of Taking a broad view of teacher English classes, and developed an important development, the second annual colloquium sense of what their possible training needs of the Teacher Education N-SIG considered am. To examine this more closely, I teacher development and socialization in developed a pre-service training needs pm-service, in-service, and distance learning questionnaire, which was administered to programs. The colloquium was organized postgraduate (would-be teachers) at interactively, with four concurrent poster Tsukuba University and third-year students sessions followed by small group at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (n = discussions and moderated plenary 55). For reasons of space, I report here on feedback. In this paper, the first section the main section of the questionnaire only. looks at the initial process of teachers becoming teachers. Next, teaching institutions themselves are examined both in Method Each of the fifty items was rated on a how they shape teachers and how teachers shape them. Sharing journals as a way to five-point Likert scale by the respondents. bring a group learning experience to a Factor analysis was then used to see how distance learning program are taken up in the questionnaire items correlated (Kline, the third section. The last section looks at 1994, p. 5 ff.). Principal factor analysis video-taping and risk-logging as tools for produced ten factors with Eigenvalues > 1. subsequent varimax rotations were effective teacher development. Three performed (cut-off at > 0.4) to obtain both significant and meaningful correlations Andrew Barfield: between the variables of each factor. Growing pains: The first two years of teaching Results When do you become a teacher? By the The following five factors were time Japanese undergraduates start their obtained in the final varimax rotation: pre-service English teacher training, they 22 Teacher Development Factor 1: Item Factor loading 15. learning how to organise group work 0.78 9. learning how to organise pairwork 0.72 16. learning how to team-teach 0.71 10. learning different theories of language learning 0.68 26. learning how to use drama in the classroom 0.62 27. learning how to assess each individual learner 0.51 13. learning how to use English for giving instructions 0.48 17. learning theories of language communication 0.45 23. learning how to teach listening skills 0.48 30. learning about different learning styles and strategies 0.41 Factor 2: Item Factor loading 48. learning how to teach reading aloud 0.71 1. learning how to speak clearly and loudly to a class 0.71 20. learning how to write on a blackboard 0.66 22. learning how to deal with the pressures of teaching 0.64 34. learning how to write school reports about students 0.50 41. learning how to introduce dialogues 0.46 24. learning how to be a homeroom teacher 0.42 50. learning how to give presentations about my teaching techniques and ideas 0.41 5. learning how to catch a class’s interest 0.41 Factor 3: Item Factor loading 23. learning how to teach listening skills 0.67 21. learning how to teach writing skills 0.56 3. learning how to teach mixed levels in the same class -0.52 19. learning how to teach reading skills 0.52 49. learning how to teach speaking skills 0.50 6. learning how to counsel students about personal problems -0.50 32. learning how to teach discussion and debating skills 0.49 17. learning theories of language communication 0.46 25. learning how to use computers 0.45 Factor 4: Item Factor loading 14. learning how to cover all details in a textbook -0.61 44. learning how to analyse my own teaching 0.61 11. learning how to do my own classroom research 0.55 47. learning how to prepare learners for exams Al.53 18. learning how to translate Japanese into English -0.51 37. learning how to observe other teachers teaching 0.45 23 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Factor 5: Item Factor loading 38. learning how to explain grammar rules 0.71 2. learning how to correct grammatical errors 0.61 29. learning grammar theories 0.59 46. learning how to translate English into Japanese 0.52 18. learning how to translate Japanese into English 0.41 Discussion The first factor may be interpreted as learning how to create and manage an at Tsukuba University and Richard Smith at interactive classroom, with an emphasis on Tokyo University of Foreign Studies for individualized learning; the second as a helping to administer the questionnaires to major concern with the presentation of their students. I’d also like to record my oneself as a teacher both within the English gratitude to Ms. Tin Tin Htun of Tsukuba lesson, and in terms of initial professional University for her generous assistance with socialization. The third factor reveals a the statistical analysis. preoccupation with skills-based teaching, language communication theory, and Paul A. Beaufait: computer competency. The fourth factor Institutions as bases for teacher centers on learning how to develop development collaboratively one’s own teaching through The institutional environment in which analysis, research and observation of teaching and learning take place frames and colleagues, but this is seen in conflict with a focuses input for teacher development. It slavish syllabus, exams and translation. The sustains uptake; it reflects output. Dynamic, final factor might be interpreted as a dramatic, or dead, institutional settings can concern with learning how to deal with validate, defeat or redirect individual questions of accuracy and correction, and development processes. Whether teacher using translation in close association with development involves student-centered this. activities or curricular developments, self- development or peer-mentoring; institutions Conclusion are at once stages for our teaching practices The good news is that, in this small- and venues for reflection and collaboration. scale exploratory study, pm-service trainees For example, explicitly within a school- show a clear concern with conducting based framework for workshops, Moon interactive language lessons and (1994) cites minimal conditions for understanding their learners individually; “professional talk” to encourage teacher they want to learn presentation skills and development: practical skills-based teaching, and develop further through collaboration and research. 1. A plan and purpose; They also have a concern with translation as 2. Linkage to recent practice (after Schon, a means of dealing with accuracy. The 1987, p. 101); painful part is the conflict that these teacher 3. A variety of perspectives coming from development concerns are perceived to have the different roles and experiences of with a broader context of mixed levels (large participants; classes?), a slavish syllabus, counseling 4. Feedback on participants’ views; and, students (ijime?), among others. The 5. Reflection on the whole development question is whether pm-service training process (Moon, 1994, p. 53). (and later in-service) courses take enough account of this or not. Hayes (1995) confirms the school base, arguing for classroom-centered teacher Acknowledgments development activities: I’d like to express my thanks to John Shillaw 24 Teacher Development Teachers need to be able to see the impact of Examples the proposed innovation on daily classroom Among advantages, these were mentioned: procedures if it is to have any validity. Holding developmental activities in schools l Company-based contributor (3 ¶s, sic) also raises their status . . . . This indicates 1. Develop cohesiveness in the program - respect for the school environment rather personnel, and group. than downgrading its importance (pp. 256- 2. Professional development of staff. 267). 3. Builds morale. l Canadian university language During colloquium interaction, I institute contributor (1 ¶, sic) explored audience perspectives of institutions as bases for teacher The school is a learning community, so development, by eliciting views which the all participants - teachers, students, audience members ‘posted’ on stickers to administrators and staff - engage in four different modules of the Institutions as conversation about education. Bases: Post & Peek(c) workspace before they ‘peeked’ at ideas from a different teachers’ I believe the preceding comment presents a group1. The plan and purpose of the spitting image of Moon’s “professional talk” workspace were to facilitate sharing and (p. 53), and represents an ideal to strive for. reflection amongst the audience, the As for bridges, these were given: preceding group of teachers, and the presenter. What follows is a qualitative - l University-based contributor (1 ¶, sic) quantitative synopsis, providing feedback If the university cares enough to on audience views. The synopsis is followed provide both time and training the by brief reflection on the Post & Peek(c) support in itself is a bridge. process itself. l No institution listed by contributor (2 ¶s, sic) Peer support. Rough paragraph counts may best Positive student feedback to new ideas. indicate the number of different ideas l No institution listed by contributor (2 elicited. In just a few minutes, audience ¶s, sic) members contributed 1.76 times more Inspires trust and involvement in the paragraphs to the two negative, or down- organization. side Disadvantages and Barriers modules (n ¶s Obviously helps see “teaching as a = 67) than they did to the two positive- profession” rather than a job. outlooking Advantages and Bridges modules (p¶s = 38; see Examples, below). More These comments highlight the value of members, 1.44 times more (n = 26), school-based teacher development, and contributed to the negative modules, than underscore Okada’s conclusion, ‘There is a did to the positive ones (p = 18), writing 1.37 need to establish a practical support system times more words (nwords:pwords = that can help teachers . . . take part in 419:305). In sum, there were more negative development-oriented teacher education contributions. programs. The lesson is: If teachers can Can such predominantly negative develop, then curriculum development will contributions indicate predominantly follow through conclusion” (with Barfield, negative thinking about teacher et al., 1996, p. 16). development in the institutions where teachers teach? I hope not. Not wishing to Process focus on the negative here, I will highlight The Post & Peek(c) workspace facilitated audience members’ views with examples sharing and reflection among professionals selected from the positive modules before in a collegial if not institutional reflecting on the elicitation and feedback environment. Peeking at predecessors’ process. views after posting their own enabled circulating audience members to share their ideas and compare them immediately with 25 On JALT96: Crossing Borders others’, including those from a distinct Table 1 group of teachers1, while still party to Writing Shared Journal Entry Stages discussion amongst their peers and the presenter. 1. Input: Participants mad an assigned Though surprised by the negative book or article, view a videotaped balance of contributions obtained in session, demonstration, or listen to an audio-taped I feel their diversity will be useful. As the lecture. process is cyclical and compounding, I will 2. Personalizing: Participants consider endeavor to use them as additional what idea or technique in the material background for future interactions speaks to them or strikes them as useful and involving teachers, who reflect - positively consider how it might be applied in their -on development opportunities in the teaching. institutions where they teach and learn. 3. Experimenting: Participants apply what they’ve chosen - incorporating it into their Sean Conley: teaching of a specific class. Using shared journals in distance 4. Writing: Participants write a journal learning entry that is shared with others in their Distance learning can be a lonely group, participants write about what it was experience. One works alone, reading that struck them, how they incorporated it articles, writing papers, wondering if into their teaching and what they think and anyone else has the same problems, the feel about the experience. same experiences. The opportunity to learn 5. Sharing: Participants fax or e-mail their from others, so central to the principles of journal entry to the others and receive and humanistic education, is often missing. read what the others have written. Journals written by and shared among a Individual responses are written to authors group of distance learners can help fill that of entries that a participant finds especially gap. interesting or helpful. During the colloquium I described a five-step process for using shared journals as a way to work with training materials in In a training program, required readings are distance teacher education. Unlike action often followed by study questions found at research journals or dialogue journals, the the end of each article. Working with purpose of this kind of shared journaling materials using shared journals, participants among a group of four to six participants is have the freedom to personalize the articles, to promote learning from others, to taking from them what they find valuable, encourage thoughtful consideration of rather than what they are directed to by training material in light of the participants’ study questions. In this, there is both the classroom experience, and to connect challenge and the chance to make the article theories presented in the materials with meaningful and useful in an immediate way practice as experienced by participants. By trying in their classrooms what participants have found stimulating in the Stages material, they bridge the gap between There are five stages to writing a shared theory and practice. journal entry: Generating ideas Moving from experimenting to writing participants must, as Edge (1992) says, put [their] thoughts into a coherent shape . . . to communicate them to someone else (Edge, 1992, p. 7). It is a process that sometimes causes you to see properly for the first time just exactly how your ideas do fit together. (Edge, op.cit.). Writing thus helps generate ideas and works as a way of setting off the Teacher Development brain’s natural ability to create possible videos at the outset of the course. answers. The process of writing entries about their thoughts and experiences for an Taking risks audience of their peers taps into both of At the same time, they were asked to these processes: participants must clarify take small risks in their classrooms each their ideas in order to communicate them to week. There were asked to do something others, and in the process they make different from what they normally did. discoveries about their own understanding These could be things that were modeled of the material and generate new ideas, each week by the teacher educator questions and answers to problems. conducting the course, or they could be In the final sharing stage participants something else. They could be small things read how others have understood and made like simply playing background music the use of the material. Here, a participant first few minutes or during an exercise. The might be challenged by the discovery that idea was that teachers were not going to others understood and applied the material change drastically; that would be too differently, leading to reconsideration of the frightening and probably unecological. material or a reevaluation of their own However, they could enjoy implementing understanding -the rough equivalent of small changes within what was possible, class discussion. On the practical level, this within their zone of proximal development is also a chance to see what others have (Vygotsky, 1934/1962). done in their classrooms and gather ideas to try on their own. Sharing risks for feedback Each week teachers came to the courses Conclusion and shared their Risk Logs with the other Feedback from participants has participants in pairs and then passed them indicated that shared journals help them feel in to the trainer for comments. They were less alone, that they find comfort in the returned the following week. The class knowledge that others share similar videoing form was turned in to the trainer problems and frustrations, and that early in the semester and the second later descriptions of others’ classroom activities with a report comparing the two. A few are helpful and interesting. Though some students began voluntarily exchanging find personalizing the material challenging, videos with each other to get feedback and a many indicate that they feel it gives them a few chose to give theirs to the instructor to sense of freedom. Correspondence between get feedback. These were seen as very participants shows that they are often positive acts. However, in order not to make surprised and challenged by different ways others feel that they needed to do this, these of understanding and applying the training were not encouraged, but rather materials. Nearly all participants have acknowledged as an option. Both methods indicated a preference for shared journaling seem to have led to more independent over working independently. teacher development for the participants - which they will hopefully continue doing. Tim Murphey: Increasing teacher awareness through References class videoing and risk-logging Barfield, A., Lovelock, C., Mark, K., Okada, Teachers in graduate school and a J., & Visscher, J. (1996). Training and continuing education course were asked to development: Possible pathways forward. video-tape their classes, and then to watch In G. Van Troyer, S. Cornwell & H. their video and analyze it themselves with Morikawa (Eds.), On JALT 95: Curriculum the help of a feedback form early in the and evaluation (pp. 13-19). Tokyo: Japan semester. Next, they were asked to video Association for Language Teaching. tape themselves later in the semester and Edge, J. (1992). Cooperative development. again analyze the video and to write a short London: Longman. report comparing the two videos. They Hayes, D. (1995). In-service teacher knew they were going to do these two development: Some basic principles. ELT 27 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Journal 49^(3), pp. 252-261. City Polytechnic of Hong Kong. Kline, P. (1994). An easy guide to factor Schon, D.A. (1987). Educating the reflective analysis. London: Routledge. practitioner: Toward a new design for teaching Moon, J. (1994). A collaborative model for and learning in the professions. San Francisco, professional development: Teachers, teacher CA: Jossey-Bass. trainees and college lecturers working Vygotsky, L. (1986). Thought and language. together. In D. Li, D. Mahoney & J. C. (E. Kozulin, Trans.) Cambridge, Richards (Eds.), Exploring second language Massachusetts: The MIT Press. Original teacher development (pp. 45-58). Hong Kong: work published in 1934). Questions About Teaching? Answers From Teachers! David Cozy Shonan International Women’s Junior College Atsuko Kashiwagi Showa Women’s Junior College Eugenia Medrano-Endo Temple University Japan Christopher Jon Poe1 Musashi Institute of Technology Spencer Weatherly Aoyama Gakuin University Introduction discussion was lively, and could easily have continued beyond the allotted time. Clearly The presenters, who together have teachers at all levels are eager to interact more than sixty years teaching experience, with those who have had different remember how it was when they were experiences, to ask questions which have starting out. They remember that they arisen in the course of their work, and to wished there had been experienced teachers share experiences they may have had that around to answer the questions that arose in could be helpful to teachers in other the classroom and workplace. Now that situations. they are experienced teachers, the presenters The five presenters opened the felt that this roundtable would be a useful roundtable with a discussion of five myths forum in which those new to teaching and/ or Japan could take advantage of their long of language teaching in Japan. David Cozy (DC) debunked the notion that, though and varied experience. Japanese have trouble speaking English, This proved to be the case. The . 28 Teacher Development they are excellent writers and readers. that term. Eugenia (Genie) Medrano-Endo (GME) SW: Moreover, the idea that all students questioned the idea that teachers always learn the same way can be extremely know best. Atsuko Kashiwagi (AK) destructive. Students can easily come to feel wondered whether it’s really a sin for that they are stupid if some system works students and teachers to use the students’ for their classmates but not for them. It may mother tongue in the classroom. Chris Poel well be, though, that employing a different (CP) argued that sticking students in groups way of learning will allow those students to may not be enough to create a do great. communicative classroom, while Spencer GME: Actually, there are a lot of issues Weatherly (SW) suggested that Japanese involved here. First, teachers generally have students, at least at the university level, may their own ideas of what it means to learn a not be the “super students” we’ve been led language. A lot of this is based on their own to expect. experiences - we tend to teach as we were When the presenters had finished with taught - and also, to a certain extent, on their challenges to the conventional their personality types. Thus, you can see wisdom, the roundtable got underway. how teachers will vary in the way they teach a particular learning item. They will The Roundtable normally teach in what they think is the best Question: Do learning styles exist in Japan? way to learn, but that won’t necessarily Isn't Japan a homogeneous society? correspond with what is best for the students. GME: People feel that Japanese students are The other issue here is work. Teachers mostly Passive learners and that this is their who are used to teaching in a certain style learning style. Actually, it is not so much will be reluctant to change their classroom that Japanese learners prefer to learn this rhythm. It will mean that much more way than it is that they have been planning and extra work at first. They will conditioned to learn in such a way. At a soon discover, though, that this extra work young age, students are discouraged from will actually mean less work in the long run. “deviating from the norm” and from voicing their preferences in the classroom, mainly Question: If we accept that studenis do have because teachers are afraid (1) that they will different learning styles, doesn’t that present an lose control in their classes, and (2) that this enormous problem for teachers? I mean if we're will go on until adulthood and cause teaching classes of twenty or thirty or forty problems for the “homogeneous” society. different students with as many different learning styles, how can we possibly plan leassons Question: Why do so many teachers refuse to that are appropriate@ all of them? acknowledge that there are different learning CP: First of all we need to be eclectic, to vary styles in the classroom? our activities. Give the students some DC: Perhaps the main mason is that, among groupwork, some pairwork, and some time Japanese (and foreigners too) the notion that to work alone. Give them some drills and Japanese are individuals before they are some silent “contemplation” time. Let them members of a group called “We Japanese” is play games; make them write. There are not universally accepted. literally hundreds of different things that a CP: Right, the notion that Japanese are teacher can do in class, and if you do different from each other is certainly not hundreds of different things, you're bound accepted in the classroom, although the idea to find something, lots of things, that fit that all learners learn the same is an every student’s learning style. absolute myth, in Japan or anywhere else. GME: At the beginning of the term, inform And while some (or most) teachers seem to them that each person learns in a different have a hard time understanding this, way and that by being aware of one’s own students don’t. Whenever I have my learning style and going with it, one is able students write about their educational to learn more effectively. You can also tell experiences, they always mention learner them that circumstances in the classroom do differences, though of course they don't use not always make this possible, but that . 29 On JALl96: Crossing Borders when they’re by themselves, they can and audio-lingual method (and there is no should try to follow their learning style. method more dependent on drills), and This will give them the idea, too, that their guess what: we did learn! You don’t need to learning is basically their own responsibility. feel, therefore, that in employing drills you Now, back to the classroom. Big classes are doing nothing for your students. mean many students and many learning CP: That’s true, but I suspect that students styles. But, don’t think that you have to who manage to learn using drill-based cater to 30 or 40 different learning styles. methods do so by contextualizing and You will find that you can classify your personalizing the language that is being students into five or six learner types that drilled into them. Some students am unable will be manageable. As you categorize to do this on their own, though, and that’s students accordingly, you - and your where the teacher needs to step in and use students - will find that there is an overlap drills in creative ways. Have one student, of learning styles among students. A for example, be the teacher for the group. "concrete learner," for example, may have a She gives the model sentence, has the group lot in common with a “communicative members repeat, and then gives the learner.” Likewise, an “analytical learner” substitutions and the others in the group may not be exclusively analytical, but will take turns. At the very least, this will welcome communicative activities as well. dramatically increase the amount of time The point is that the teacher should plan each student spends talking. If you have activities that will be more readily accepted students working in groups of four, each by the type of learners in his/her class. member is talking one-fourth of the time, instead of only once or twice during the Comment: Actually, learning styles cannot be entire lesson. clearly categorized into four different learner DC: Yes, and since Japanese students are types. Usually, them is no clear-cut line and often familiar with drills, this is a good way most learners are a mixture of different types. of letting them do an activity with which GME: Yes, that’s true. The Willing study1 they am comfortable, while at the same time was an example that talked about four introducing something with which they different learner types of that particular may be less familiar: groupwork. study But the whole point of the myth is not CP: Remember, too, that the drills are not an so much to state that there are X number of end point in themselves. They should be learner types as to encourage teachers to seen as a stepping stone. think about learner styles or preferences DC: Right. So even though you and the when they plan for activities in the teachers you are training must employ classroom. In other words, get to know your drills, you don’t have to use them as the students, become aware of their different whole class. Used as a part of each class they learner styles -and try to go with the flow. can be a way to introduce new structures and vocabulary which prepare students for Question: You mentioned using drills. I'm a more communicative activities to follow. I’m teacher-trainer working for a large company afraid you may find, however, that the which uses in-house materials that consist teachers you train may resist employing mostly of drills. Though I am obliged to train mom communicative methods because teachers in how to use these materials, I do not doing so will require more work on their think drills are adequate. I want to train my parts than simply running through drills. teachers in more communicative techniques, but CP: One way to deal with that resistance is I can't jettison the drills altogether. What should to encourage teachers to collaborate, thus I do? spreading the additional work around -a DC: The first thing to remember is that drills sort of groupwork for teachers. are not all bad. Although few now believe that they are the most effective way to teach Question: How do you feel about allowing or learn languages, that is not the same as students to use their mother tongue in the saying they are entirely ineffective. Many of classroom? Isn 't there a danger that a teacher us present at this roundtable have been can become lazy amd start explaining everything taught languages by teachers employing the in the students' L1? . Teacher Development AK: It is essential that students be given the studying, age, and the size of the class. chance to struggle in the target language. So Some students will benefit from and much learning occurs through negotiation of appreciate the use of Japanese when meaning. Being too quick to give grammatical structures or certain explanations in the students’ L1 robs vocabulary items are explained. Other students of opportunities to learn. On the students will love the challenge of having other hand, if you are too insistent on everything explained in English. I think the always using the target language, you not important thing is not to let dogmas about only waste a lot of precious class time, but L1 vs. L2 use limit the ways you respond to also deprive students of the rich cognitive your students’ needs. resources which they have developed in SW: You need to keep in mind what the their mother tongue. purpose of the lesson is. If giving and I find the best thing to do is, on the first understanding instructions in English is the day of class, to ask the students what they focus of your lesson, then do it in English. If want to do. Given the choice, most students the instructions are just a means of setting prefer to use English in the English up another more important activity, the classroom. They want me to use English all students’ L1 may be appropriate. Using the the time, and only ask that they be allowed L1 will allow you to get to the main focus of to use their L1 when they are absolutely your lesson more quickly. stuck. I find that if I let the students CP: Right, and for those of us who haven’t establish their own rules, they are more yet mastered Japanese, using our less than likely to stick to them. It is important, perfect Japanese in our classrooms shows though, that whatever rules the class agrees students that making mistakes in a second on are clearly laid out at the beginning. language is not the end of the world. GME: Ako is right when she says that given a choice, most students will prefer to use Question: I’m Japanese. Because the students English in the classroom. There’s nothing know that, I find that it can be really difficult to like being cool when one can speak another get them to talk to me in English. How can I deal language fluently The thing is, it’s a long with a student who refuses to speak English to way before students can acquire that me? proficiency, and therefore, students tend to AK: I’m also Japanese, and I entirely revert to their mother tongue. But speaking understand what you are saying. Actually, I Japanese is itself a golden opportunity for once had a student tell me that when she the teacher to catch and rephrase in English. talked to me in English, she felt intimidated. The teacher can then say, ‘This is how you When she talked to me, she felt that 1 was say it in English. Now that you know, you just evaluating her English rather than really can use it whenever you need it ." 1 find that listening to what she was saying. I had to students will generally use the new phrase admit she had a point. When the teacher happily, especially when they need to use it and student are both Japanese, using often. But in order to reduce this kind of English with each other can feel totally monitoring, it’s also good to teach certain contrived; the sense of real communication classroom vocabulary at the beginning of can be lost. the semester which will help them slide into I don’t think, though, that it is the English mode more easily. Don’t forget impossible for Japanese teachers to create a that you can also prep the students with classroom atmosphere in which students vocabulary needed for the intended can enjoy communicating in English. Some discussion. students even enjoy speaking English with Japanese teachers. For these students it’s like Comment: I generally agree, but I think, in a game. It’s very important for the teacher, some cases, if you don 't spoon-feed the students, however, to set the tone of the class from the they starve. first day, and again, I'd say the best way to AK: The question of how much L1 to allow do this is by having a discussion with your in the classroom depends on many factors. students about what they want. You have to take into account, for example, the students1 level, motivation, reasons for Question: I teach a small group class in which . 31 On JALT96: Crossing Borders there is a doctor who is quite eminent and also student can teach his or her partner, and in older than the other members of the group. He so doing help each of them to learn. In fact, intimidates the other members of the group, and though it won’t always be the more able the truth is, he intimidates me, too. What should student doing the teaching. All learners I do to ensure equal speaking time for all know something that other learners don’t, members of the group? so all will have an opportunity to be the DC: On a fundamental level, remember that teacher. you are the teacher, and that teachers in this Having said that, one probably doesn’t society are vested with a certain amount of want to have students in unequal pairs all power and respect. You have the authority the time. It is also nice for two advanced to tell the doctor - with all due courtesy students to get together and fly, as well as and respect —to shut up. for less advanced students to work with CP: On a more practical level you can use someone who is comfortable with a slower groupwork techniques to manage the pace. For this reason, one should change amount each student speaks. For example, pairs often, even several times in one class. give each student a token of some sort. In CP: You need to be careful, though, about order to talk, the student must “spend” their how pairs or groups are formed. If students token. Having spent his or her token, the are allowed to form their own groups, student cannot speak again until all the they’ll work with their friends, and in doing other students have spent their tokens. Once so, they may not stay focused on the task. that happens, all students retrieve their Also, students who are less popular, or tokens from the center of the table, and the perceived as “bad,” may be left out. discussion proceeds. This technique not With regard to groups, in the field of only assures that loudmouths don’t cooperative learning, mixed groups are dominate, but also provides incentives for considered ideal. Having one high quiet students to speak. Because the proficiency student, one low proficiency aggressive students are impatient for their student, and two that fall somewhere in the turn to come around again, they encourage middle is recommended. You do have to more quiet students to take their turns. take care, though, to structure your tasks in GME: My particular remedy is to have a such a way that each group member will timer that will beep when it’s time to stop. have to participate. You can’t give the low But you know, what can be a problem here proficiency learners the chance to tune out— can actually be turned into something or the higher students the chance to ignore positive. This doctor, you have to admit, is their groupmates. an exceptional student -he’s talking! Here we are practically on our knees asking Question: I have a real problem with students students to say something in English, and coming in late. What should I do? when one finally does, we want him to shut SW: The teacher must make it clear from the up. Usually, dominant speakers can be great start what is expected of students. The leaders. You can make such dominant prevalent notion, at least at college and members of the group work for you by university level, is that students are not asking them to be leaders, whose main task expected to show up for class on time, and is to elicit information from each and every you cannot really blame students for member of his group, and then ask him to believing that your class too will be run on summarize what went on in the discussion. these premises. You have to make it clear, He will love the esteem that comes with therefore, that it is not going to be allowed. being a leader - and won’t mind the If the teacher makes it clear that being responsibilities connected with it. You can late is not acceptable, will not be tolerated, then sit in your chair and relax instead of and will affect their grade in the course, playing police. then students will not be late. One way of doing this is “three strikes and you’re out.” Question: When doing pairwork, should I be If the student is not in his or her seat by the concerned about pairs of unequal ability? time roll is called then that student is absent. DC: Well, unequal pairs can be a positive If a student is absent three times, he or she thing. In unequal pairs, the more able fails the class -period! Students will tend 32 Teacher Development not to take such systems seriously at first, so have to have contacts, and particularly if the teacher has to keep reminding them that you do your Master’s in Japan, you will they’d better learn to. It’s usually enough to make those sorts of contacts in your comment as you are taking roll, “Only one program. more for Taro and he’s out.” Students GME: If nothing else there is always the quickly come to understand that you are not confidence that one gains when one has kidding. completed a graduate degree -- confidence Of course there are other systems for as a teacher, confidence as a lesson planner, getting students to show up on time. One confidence that what you are doing will can, for example, give students points for benefit the students’ language learning. attendance. If a student has less than X amount of attendance then that is ten Question: Yes, but isn't what one learns in a percent off his or her total score for the year. Master’s program too theoretical to be of use to If a student has less than X amount of working teachers? attendance, then that is minus twenty SW: It’s true they’re not going to teach you percent, and so on. things like how to erase the blackboard. CP: What I do is simple. If they are more You’re still going to have to think for than fifteen minutes late for a class they are yourself and come up with lesson plans on considered absent. Four absences in a your own. You will, though, acquire the semester - or seven for a full-year course tools which will enable you to do this in a - and they fail. The details, however, of the more principled fashion. Actually, a lot of system are not that important. The people who are initially hostile to what they important thing is to have a clear policy, call “theory” learn to see the point of it as explain that policy from the beginning, and they proceed toward their degree. to stick to it. GME: Really, in a Master’s program it’s not Another way I encourage students to all theory. Some assignments will actually show up on time is to spend the first fifteen require you to develop communicative minutes of each class on student speeches. activities that will be relevant to your Each week several students have to give particular teaching situation, which will speeches which count for about ten percent help you make informed decisions of what of their grades. If they are late, they may will work best for you in the classroom. You miss their chance to speak, and this could, 1 will actually be more in control of your make clear to them, affect their final grade teaching, you’ll feel better about it, and you dramatically. will end up doing a better job! DC: And, with that thought we’ll bring this Question: Is getting a Master’s degree worth it? roundtable to a close. We’d like to thank the DC: If you don’t plan to stay in teaching, audience for participating and for their there is no reason to spend the time, energy thoughtful and insightful questions. If there and money it takes to get a Master’s degree. is anyone who didn’t get a chance to ask If, on the other hand, you are a career their question or who would like to further teacher then a Master’s degree is question any of the panel members, we’d be indispensable. more than happy to talk to you outside as CP: I strongly agree. Getting a Master’s was soon as we finish here. Thank you again for the most important move in my teaching coming, and enjoy the rest of the conference. career. Not only did it allow me to move from conversation school and vocational Footnote school teaching to the university level, but it 1 Willing, K. (1987). Learning styles improved my teaching skills dramatically. and adult migrant education. Adelaide: Yes, it’s definitely worth it. National Curriculum Resource Centre. DC: Yes, and on a more mundane level, if one wants to teach at a college or university in Japan, and increasingly at other types of institutions as well, a Master’s degree is a basic requirement. Also, to get in the door at most Japanese colleges and universities you 33 On JALT96: Crossing Borders What Makes a Good Language Lesson? (Part 2) Stephen M. Ryan Osaka Institute of Technology This poster reported on the findings of The only (fairly) large scale study of an on-going research project which exam- teachers conducted recently in Japan ines the concept which teachers and stu- appears to be Sasaki’s (1996) survey of 81 dents in Japan have of “a good language native-speaking English teachers. Sasaki lesson.” focussed on the teachers’ attitudes to the The first part of the project asked 572 classroom behaviour of their Japanese students at a wide variety of schools to write students and reports a mismatch between about the best English lesson they had ever teachers’ expectations and students’ behav- had. A content-analysis of their responses iour. was presented at JALT95 (Ryan, 1996). This second part of the project, which The survey used the same methodology, asked a similar A questionnaire was drawn up asking question to language teachers working in teachers to respond in writing to the Japan. It attempts to identify similarities and following question: differences in the views of students and their teachers on this subject. l What are the elements of your “ideal This is done not in the belief that good lesson,” the kind of lesson you aim to teaching consists in giving students exactly teach to your students (although you what they want, nor in bending them may not always succeed)? entirely to the will of the teacher but from a l While the lesson should be ideal, the conviction that teaching should be based on students you imagine teaching it to an appreciation of as many of the factors should be your own. that come together in the classroom as l Please be as detailed as possible. possible, especially those on which students and teachers differ. Respondents were also asked to provide some basic demographic informa- Previous studies tion. There has been a flurry of articles The research question was left deliber- examining the views on various aspects of ately open (some might say vague) in order language education held by college students to avoid pre-judging the answers by in Japan (Hadley & Hadley, 1996; Redfield, suggesting that they might involve certain 1995; Shimizu, 1995; Durham and Ryan, categories. The students surveyed in the 1992), but far fewer dealing with those of first part of the project had been asked a their teachers. Presumably this is at least in slightly more concrete question (“Think of part due to the difficulties of obtaining the best English lesson you have ever had. responses from a meaningfully large sample What was good about it? What made it of teachers. different from other English lessons?“) In Hong Kong, Richards, Tung and Ng which was thought to be more appropriate have reported on the beliefs and attitudes of to their level of maturity. The more abstract teachers in in-service training but focussed question was used with the teachers on the mainly on the ideological levels of philoso- assumption that, with a wider experience of phy, method and approach (1992). different teaching situations than the 34 Teacher Development students, they would be more able to extrapolate the elements of an ideal lesson. Sample Questionnaires were distributed to Responses were received from 54 teachers in Japan by the following means: teachers. Since only one of them was a given to those showing an interest in the native speaker of Japanese, it was decided to poster presentation of student data at focus the study on the 53 who were native JALT95; sent to members of JALT’s CUE N- speakers of English teaching their own SIG who had agreed to participate in language. Thus the survey dealt exclusively questionnaire research; handed or e-mailed with the views of foreign teachers. This was to friends and colleagues and posted on the not the intention at the outset but a result of JALT CALL electronic-mail list for answers the lack of responses from Japanese teach- off-list. ers. The responses were analysed to extract They were teaching in the following the elements of a good lesson which they kinds of schools: mentioned. If, for example, a response said: “A good lesson would have motivated University: 24 students paying attention to the teacher,” it Junior College: 10 was read as one mention of motivated University and Junior College: 8 students and one mention of attentiveness. Various (including Company, As more responses were analysed, the language school, senmongakko): 9 list of elements grew longer and it was No answer: 2 possible to group some of them under headings such as “Goals,“ “Atmosphere” Results and “Materials.” This grouping was done in With such a small sample, it was order to make a long list of elements decided to treat all the teachers as one group digestible for consumers of the results and is rather than looking for differences between not intended to suggest that the teachers the responses of, say, university teachers themselves would have grouped their and senmongakko teachers. responses in this way. The elements of a good lesson mentioned by No attempt was made to force the more than one teacher are tabulated below responses into similar categories to those with figures showing how many respond- which emerged from the data collected from ents mentioned each element. students in the previous study. Elements of a good lesson mentioned by more than one teacher Element # of teachers Goals students learn something new 5 student-autonomy 3 achieve goals 2 sense of accomplishment for students 2 meet needs of all students 2 students leave happy 2 students leave feeling they learnt sthg. 2 improve students’ self-esteem 2 improvement in students’ language use 2 students to learn one/two items per lesson 2 Approach student-centred 5 Lesson-planning considerations classes fit together in a series 5 variety of activities 4 movement 4 35 On JALT96: Crossing Borders time for students to reflect pace fast enough to maintain interest small class well-planned Lesson components warm-up homework review summary preview next lesson What is taught useable/useful English 5 Materials/Content interesting to students textbook video personal topics appropriate to students’ level interesting to teacher selected by students social topics tapes Class activities pairwork 16 group work 10 role-play 6 songs 3 real-life activities 3 information gap task 3 students make dialogues 3 drills 3 drama activities 2 timed activities 2 quizzes 2 student presentations 2 discussion 2 Teacher activities does not correct too much helps/corrects students acts as a facilitator monitors students talks very little prepares well Student Activities interact in English 15 speak English 7 prepare well 4 speak out/ask questions 4 monitor/correct themselves 4 know purpose of lesson 3 know and use classroom language 2 answer questions 2 listen a lot 2 Student attitude well motivated 3 Teacher Development interested in lesson 2 interested in learning 2 interested in teacher 2 Atmosphere students fully engaged in lesson fun interesting for students challenge good humour excitement “Aha!” moments lively respect for all good teacher-student rapport sense of wonder/magic students feel free to speak students do not want to leave To a large extent the table speaks for itself: the teachers surveyed would like to students to provide the centre around which see their students fully engaged and the ideal lesson revolves. It is not surprising, interacting in English, mainly in pairwork then, that the single most common response and groupwork activities, using materials was that students should be fully engaged that interest the students, in a fun atmos- in the lesson. Since the common perception phere. There is less consensus in other is that Japanese education tends to be categories but a general recognition that an teachercentred to a fault, it would be ideal lesson would have a goal (or goals) interesting to know how far this desire for and that teachers should consider the student-centerdness is a reaction by the ordering of activities in the lesson plan. teachers to the situation in which they find Although student-centredness is themselves. espoused explicitly by only 5 of the re- spondents, it is implicit in many of the other Comparison with student preferences elements mentioned. There is concern that The analysis of student responses to the students should be interested both in the previous survey concluded: “students like materials used and in the lessons them- to learn practical English in small conversa- selves. The most popular of the classroom tion classes taught by foreign teachers using activities (pair-work, group-work, role-play) videos in a fun atmosphere with games and require a lot of student involvement. The explanations that are easy to understand” long list of student activities contrasts with (Ryan, 1996, p. 118). While this is not the limited number of teacher activities, incompatible with the student-centred many of which are negative (do not correct approach favoured by the teachers, it does too much, do not talk too much). Indeed, suggest a difference in priorities. few of the activities suggested for the The following table shows elements teacher fit a traditional model of mentioned by both teachers and students. “teacherliness”: the teacher is seen here as a For ease of comparison, the number of planner, a facilitator and a monitor of respondents mentioning an element is studentcentred activities. expressed as a percentage of the total This, of course, puts the onus on number of respondents to each survey. 37 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Element Teachers (%) Students (%) n =53 n=572 fun 15.1 15.6 video 9.4 9.9 small class 3.8 4.2 useable/useful English 9.4 7.5 tapes 3.8 1.4 quizzes 3.8 1.6 songs 5.7 3.1 discussion 3.8 1.2 sense of accomplishment for students 3.8 1.0 drama activities 3.8 0.3 students prepare well 7.5 0.3 interesting 9.4 1.0 students speak English 13.2 2.3 role-play 11.3 0.3 group work 18.9 1.2 pairwork 30.2 1.0 The strongest areas of agreement seem because it is so obvious that it, literally, to be that lessons should be fun, involve “goes without saying.” small classes and teach useful English and Obviously, a further round of research on specific classroom activities or materials. is needed to overcome these problems. In However, the elements on which there is the third stage, students and teachers will be agreement account for only 8.6% of all the asked to react to the same list of elements of elements mentioned by the two groups of a good lesson drawn from the first two parts respondents. Whole categories of elements of this project. It is hoped that firmer mentioned by one group are ignored by the conclusions can be drawn from the third, other: students say nothing about lesson comparative, stage of the reseafih. goals, approach or (less surprisingly) lesson- planning; teachers do not mention the Conclusion manner in which instructions should be This second part of the research project given to students (a topic on which 10.0% of has looked at the elements foreign teachers the students express an opinion). in Japan consider to be part of an ideal While this is suggestive of huge language lesson. Although only a small differences in the priorities of teachers and number of teachers responded to the survey, students, it is important not to read too it is possible to discern a predilection for much into it at this stage of the research studentcentred approaches. How far this is project. Some of the differences are ex- compatible with the preferences of Japanese pected: whilst the personality of the teacher students is a question which will be ex- is an important variable for the student, it is plored further in the third stage of this a constant for a teacher asked to write about project. a lesson taught by him or herself. Some are matters of semantics: a teacher writing References about “helping and correcting students” and Durham, M. & S. M. Ryan. (1992). What a student saying the teacher should correct kind of teacher do students want?: A students’ pronunciation probably have very cross-cultural comparison. Speech similar ideas on this point but, since they are Communication Education, 5,70-99. not exactly the same, it is not possible to Hadley, G. & H. Y. Hadley. (1996). The conflate them for analysis. culture of learning and the good teacher Most importantly, the research method- in Japan: An analysis of student views. ology employed so far will not allow us to The Language Teacher, 20 (9),53-55. understand if an element is not mentioned Redfield, M. (1995). Student views on because it is not thought to be important or language learning. Speech Communica- 38 Teacher Development tion Education, 8,107-120. Language Teaching/Leurning (pp. 116- Richards, J. C., I? Tung & l? Ng. (1992). The 119). Tokyo: Japan Association for culture of the English language teacher. Language Teaching RELC ]ournul, 23 (1), 81-102. Sasaki, C. L. (19%). Teacher preferences of Ryan, S.M. (1996). What makes a good student behavior in Japan. JALT Journal, language lesson? In G. van Troyer, S. 18 (2), 229-239. Cornwell, & H. Morikawa (Eds.), Shimizu, K. (1995) Japanese college students Curriculum and evaluation: Proceedings of attitudes towards English teachers: A the JALT 2995 International Conference on survey. The Language Teacher, 19 (10), 5-8. Understanding Instructions Survey: Less Anxiety, More Interaction Duane Kindt Trident School of Languages Introduction writing Action research is one way to try to activity solve classroom problems (LoCastro, 1994, pictures p. 5). When I began an action research partner project in September 1995, I had a problem. drawings Students in my novice-level freshman dictionary conversation class and I felt anxiety during real instructions. There was one activity in wait particular which helped reduce anxiety during this project (Kindt, in press). It was a 1 I listen to the survey that introduced students to possible teacher’s explanation. ways to understand instructions. In this 2 I watch the teach- paper, I would like to present a revision of er’s gesture, body language or this survey and show how action research demonstrations. can result in practical applications. 3 1 read the teacher’s writing, pictures or drawings on the The “What Do You Do to Understand?” board. Survey I look at any real A list of possible techniques (or ways) things the teacher shows us. students might use to help understand I ask the teacher to instructions became the basis of the fifteen- explain again. item survey. When I introduce the survey to I ask the teacher for a class, I first familiarize students with the examples. words below: I read the handout or textbook carefully. explanation I watch what other explain students are doing or their demon- watch stration. examples 9 I ask my classmates gesture to explain in English. handout 10 I ask my classmates demonstrations for examples in English. carefully 39 On JALT96: Crossing Borders 11 I just try the activity the class. This same item scored higher with by myself, with a partner or in a the International students (2.1) and lower group with the general student body (1.5). Then I explain how to complete the survey by writing either “never,” “some- times,” "often," “usually,” or “always” on the blanks. A colleague suggested doing the 6.6 8.0 survey as interviews to make it a communi- cative activity. Whatever the case, students should complete the survey thinking especially of their English classes with foreign teachers: 2 7 14 12 i 88 ii 8 is 6 15 9 io 1 12 I look in a diction- I I 3 ary. 13 I ask the teacher to explain in Japanese. Figure 1: Freshman Class Results 14 I ask my classmates to explain in Japanese. 1.5 I do nothing and When we look at Figure 2 (see page 3), wait for the teacher to come and from students with classroom experience help me. abroad, items 1,3,4 and 2 might be ex- pected in the high range. But item 11, “I Survey on ways of understanding ______just try the activity by teachers’ instructions myself, with a partner or in a group,” could After collecting the surveys, I calculated be at 2.6 due to a greater level of motivation, a relative frequency of response for each confidence or initiative. Both the Freshman item. I assigned values (never=O, some- Class and general population scored times=l, often=2, usually=3 and always=4) only 2.1. An expected result from the and calculated the average. International students was item 13, “I I will comment on two classes I taught ask the teacher to explain in this year (19961, a novice Freshman Class Japanese.“At 0.5, this was far lower than the and a class of International Communication collective score of 1.5. students who studied abroad for a year. I will also include the results of all 117 students from ten different classes partici- pating in the survey The results varied greatly from class to class but showed a tendency towards three ranges-high (2.6+), mid (2.5-l .5), and low fbelowl.4). For example, in Figure1 items 1, 18.0 3,2, and 7 a.m high, items 14,12,4,8,11,5 -U 2.6 and 13 are mid, and 6,15,9, and 10 are low P 8.0 a, range items. The only surprise in the high a l6 range is item 7, “I read the .j 1.0 handout or textbook carefully,” which is f 6.6 typically mid-range. Scoring 3.1 might show 0.0 that the Freshman Class gets more security 1 8 4 8 11 18 6 8 I4 7 6 8 10 18 16 out of written instructions. In the mid-range, item 5 at 1.8, “I ask the teacher to explain again,” may shows Figure 2: International Communication students’ hesitation to take active roles in Class Results 40 Teacher Development reactions to the survey and make predic- Figure 3 shows the results of all 117 tions. responses, though I think that this informa- The first item, “Circle the [items] you tion is quite far removed from the reality of were aware of...,” was included in hopes each individual classroom. that students would more deeply reflect on the items and their own style of interaction with their teachers. The second, “How do you feel when you don‘t understand...,” 4.0 , I would give us an idea of how our students 3.6 are reacting when they are unable to 3.0 understand. The possible initial responses, 26 like “Perplexed or unhappy” (with Japanese 2.0 translation; see Appendix), avoided the use i.6 of close synonyms to get students to think more deeply about the choices and not 1.0 choose indiscriminately (Cholewinski, in 0.6 press). 0.0 3 1 14 2 3 4 , 11 *s 6 13 6 16 0 10 ltaM on Qa rNbuceonl survey Perplexed or unhappy Shy or embarrassed Anxious or uncomfortable Figure 3: All Surveyed Students Results Nothing special Other There were, however, some interesting results to consider. Item 14, “I After checking one of the above items, ask my classmates to explain students were asked to briefly explain. in Japanese,” scored in the high range (2.7). Again, this helped students to provide a It is easy to believe that asking classmates in more thoughtful response. Japanese is quite common for the student The third item asks students to predict population in general, though the Interna- whether knowing these items will help tional students scored only 1.9. Item 12, “I them, and the fourth whether they will try _ look in a dictionary,” was to use them consciously in the future. A low for all students (1.61, but both the word of caution: I think that students would Freshman and International students scored not consciously use each of these items. That higher (2.4 and 2.1 respectively). I can only would, as one student responded, “make guess that this shows the effects of indi- (them) act unnaturally.” I think the aware vidual differences among classes and ness that these possibilities exist and can be ultimately, among individuals. employed at any time is the benefit. Of course, the most important result for The following are selected examples of me was that the anxiety never returned. responses from the Freshman Class and After giving the survey to a class, I felt so International Communication Class. These confident that I sometimes gave handouts comments gave me a much better under- without any verbal instructions at all. They standing of students’ attitudes towards had to ask me how to complete it. Even this anxiety during instructions than the original increased emphasis on student responsibil- survey. I think they speak well for them- ity resulted in an enjoyable lesson. selves (errors remain as written): The accompanying questionnaire 2 How do you feel when you don’t under- One of the drawbacks of the original stand a teacher’s instructions immediately? survey was that I never asked students directly if they thought doing the survey Freshman Class reduced anxiety So after consulting with l• Perplexed or unhappy "I wanna take colleagues, I decided to write a four-item part in class.” questionnaire to accompany the survey (see l Perplexed or unhappy ‘When I Appendix). This asked students to-give their confuse, I regret.” 41 On JALT96: Crossing Borders l Anxious or uncomfortable. “I feel 4 Will you try to use them in your classes? uncomfortable, I don’t know what is doing.” Freshman Class l Other: “Mortifying. I mortifying that I l Yes. “Because, be myself.” don’t understand teacher’s say l Yes. “So I can understand always.” thing.” l Yes. “I already doing the ways to International Communication Class understand.” l Perplexed or Unhappy ‘Because I l I don’t know. “I’m very shy” sometimes can’t ask the teacher International Communication Class again.” l Yes. "I want to learn more easily.” l Perplexed or Unhappy “Because in l Yes. "if 1 know these ways, I’m not be spite of studying English in England, nervous.“ I can’t understand.” l Maybe. ‘Because depends on situa- l Nothing Special. “Because I think that tion.“ I can ask teacher, “Could you tell me l 1 don‘t know. “It’s very difficult to get again?“ after he/she said.” used to their teaching style because I l Other: “want to know it. Because if I got a different style. Maybe I can try.” can’t understand it I’m going to be perplexed, so I want to avoid to be Conclusion perplexed.” A great deal of time could be spent analyzing the deeper meanings of the 3 Do you think that being aware of these survey results or criticizing the survey ways will make you feel more relaxed? questions, procedures or usefulness. It is also clear that different applications of this Freshman Class survey are literally endless. But the most l Yes. “I don’t feel uncomfortable when important result of this revised version was I know many ways to understand.” that in my classes, and hopefully in other l Yes. “If I understand all of your said. classes as well, students and teachers could I’m very fun and happy.” feel less anxious during instructions. I l Yes. “If I understand teacher saids, attribute this positive result in part to a next reaction is easy.” greater awareness of what is possible during l Yes. “I can teach to my friends.” instructions and to the benefits of conduct- International Communication Class ing action research. l Yes. “Of cause, If I know these ways, I can easy to understand what I should References do.” Cholewinski, M. (in press). Organic vs. l Yes. “If it is so, I can join the class inorganic: A look at student-developed more.” and non-student-developed materials l Maybe. ‘Each teacher has different in L2 classes. The Academic Journal of way of teaching, so if I can under- the Nagoya University of Foreign stand their teaching style, maybe I Studies. can understand the class more.” Kindt, D. (in press). Action research: less l I don’t know. “If I know many ways anxiety, more interaction. The Academic to understand the teacher‘s instruc- Journal of Trident School of Languages. tions, I know their instructions are bad.“ LoCastro, V. (1994). Teachers helping themselves: Classroom research and action research. The Language Teacher. 18 (2), 4-7. Teacher Development Appendix The Accompanying Questionnaire m Read the questions carefully and then answer in detail. Please use English if Possible. RB&Je:r(%AJT, TSbRtj(~L(~~7(RE~~. ?czJ~<3Gfic#crk, 1 Look at the list of ways to understand teachers' instructions. Circle the ones you were aware of before Today's activity. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 2 HOW do you feel when you don't understand a teacher's instructions immediately? 5#2kati3i3*tCc=BJnF~3%b~@, ri%!b~3fdl? - Perplexed or unhappy *&bt + 5 ; % L br - Shy or embarrassed %!%a Lb’ - Anxious or uncomfortable F% - - Other *@B! Could you briefly explain your answer? l%$l=I!!/!@ % gb’7-F 3 b’, 3 There are many ways to understand teachers1 instructions. Do you think being aware of these ways will make you feel more relaxed and comfortable during instructions? ~;4a>~~Q~~fgt=t;t$AQk~~,‘~, S-4-0 ~tL5~ziE9fil77~~zJ~%?K cpib7~‘)~.73XT~r:~~~tC=~7r:I)-e~g1:.~~13:fda? Could you briefly explain your answer? ?6!lgir.b=@!R3%*vr7T?rvr,r0 4 Now that you are more aware of the ways to understand teachers1 instructions, will you try to use them in your classes? Could you briefly explain your answer? l&$l:%?@i eBb’7-F 2 “o 43 On JALT96: Crossing Borders How Students Account for their Poor English Skills Lana Yuen Tokyo Seitoku Junior College Among my colleagues and friends who used as excuses for students’ failure to learn teach English conversation classes at the and speak English. What exactly do they college level, a commonly heard complaint mean when they say they are shy? They from their students is “This is supposed to certainly do not act that way outside of the be a conversation class, but there isn’t any classroom. Why are they so passive? Are conversation in this class.” Upon hearing they really bored and disinterested? Is it too this, you scratch your head and think to difficult for them? Or are there other factors yourself, “That’s funny. My job title clearly involved in making them passive in the states Instructor of English Conversation, classroom? In my research I attempt to and that’s what I’ve been teaching every answer some of these questions by eliciting week for the past year. I am schooled in ESL specific reasons why some students seem to theory and I believe and practice the have such a difficult time in English communicative approach. I do pair-work conversation classes. and group-work activities and have stocked up on the general tools of the trade. So, how The Students can the students say I haven‘t been teaching A total of 189 junior college and them conversation? What do they really university students were represented in the mean when they say this? After getting study. At the junior college the students over the initial feelings of bafflement (and, were first and second year English yes, some annoyance), I began to ask myself, conversation class female students. At the “What do students mean by lack of university the students were first, second, conversation? Are they unhappy about and third year English conversation class their own lack of oral production or that of male and female students. A majority were their classmates? Were they really dissatis- English majors who were required to enroll fied because their perceptions of a in English conversation courses. The conversation class were not met or was this students at the junior college were leveled simply a blanket excuse to complain about according to their abilities based on an oral other underlying problems they experienced exam administered at the beginning of the in the class?” academic year. At the university the The objective of the study is to students were grouped according to their investigate the basis of the abovementioned homeroom. Analysis of the data did not complaint by examining how college reveal any significant differences in student students perceive and assess their English attitudes. The fact that the junior college conversation classes. To what or to whom was single sex and the university coed did do the students attribute their difficulties in result in some differences in relation to acquiring oral English? It is a cliche to say classroom dynamics, which I interpreted as that, in general, Japanese students are basically positive. Male and female students passive in the classroom. The other often engage in self-segregation in the commonly heard statement is that Japanese classroom, with male students sitting on one are shy. Too often these cultural traits are side of the room and female students sitting 44 Teacher Development on the opposite side. But when randomly “I don’t like English because . .."; “English is paired together to complete tasks, they were difficult because . .."; and ‘The best way to actually quite active and productive. There learn English is . ..” The fourth part of the were also some differences in opinions evaluation was optional. Students were between students in first, second, and third given the opportunity to express additional year conversation classes, but in most cases I comments and opinions if they wished in attribute these differences more to English or Japanese. personality within each class rather than year of students. Analysis The results of the questionnaire Method produced some obvious answers to why The scope of my research was students have difficulty in an English accomplished through the collection of data conversation class and why they complain utilizing class evaluations, information that there is no conversation (see Appendix). culled from informal interviews with The majority of the students lack the students, and observation of the classes in necessary vocabulary in order to engage in the course of the semester. The main part of meaningful dialogue because they seldom the evaluation consisted of a questionnaire. review what they learned in class. Rather Five areas in which students were to than building a repertoire of new evaluate their experiences and level of vocabulary words and useful phrases every satisfaction with their English conversation week in order to help them improve, the classes were included: (1) classroom atmos- students are basically at the same starting phere; (2) the textbook; (3) the handouts; (4) point every week. An analogy would be the instructor; and (5) the students running in place-you expend the energy themselves. Within each area were specific but you don’t go anywhere. The students questions. In the area of classroom come to class and bring their textbooks. But atmosphere, students were asked to state their failure to review and utilize what they their opinions about the size of the class, learn from week to week holds them back pace of the lessons, attitude of classmates, and keeps them at the same spot. The fact etc. Regarding the textbook and handouts, that most students felt it was adequate students were asked to assess the interest, having English conversation only once a content, and difficulty levels of the week also indicate that they do not materials. The instructor was evaluated understand what it takes to acquire a based on the speed, volume, clarity, and foreign language. (Cogan, 1995) They level of her speech and explanations. The complain that they do not have the demeanor and attitude of the instructor opportunity to utilize English and, towards her students and teaching were also therefore, cannot improve their skills, yet do evaluated. In the category of students they not see the irony in not wanting to have were instructed to answer questions con- more classes per week. Their expectations cerning their study habits and efforts inside are unrealistic considering their lack of and outside of the classroom. The second effort and initiative. Although they realize part of the evaluation consisted of the that the key to success in learning English ranking of five items related to learning involves practice and self-motivation, the English: (1) the school curriculum; (2) the results of the questionnaire suggest that text; (3) the teacher; (4) classmates; and (5) many do not apply them in their English student motivation. Students were conversation classes (see Appendix). instructed to rank the five items from one to In the ranking section of the evaluation, five, one being the most important factor in students overwhelmingly indicated that the learning English and five being the least instructor and self-motivation were the most important factor in learning English based important factors in acquiring English. on their own opinions and experiences. The Surprisingly the importance assigned to third part of the evaluation was self- their own classmates ranked consistently explanatory and consisted of four open- last in their assessment suggesting the ended questions: “I like English because . . . "; importance students place on the vertical 45 On JALT96: Crossing Borders relationship between instructor and student that second year students are sometimes in contrast to the horizontal relationship more relaxed with each other and show between student and student. Text and more willingness to engage in conversation. curriculum ranked equally low. Some students also seem to show an However, when asked to complete improvement in their attitude and openended questions, the answers revealed performance during the second semester. that for many students the classroom Other students set the tone and atmosphere and the role of other students determine the atmosphere of the class, more did have a significant bearing on whether so than the teacher. The students’ passivity they performed well in class. (Larsen- is influenced and governed by their Freeman, 1991) Some of the students’ fears classmates. The students may follow in speaking up were directly linked to their instructions given by the instructor, but it is self-consciousness regarding other students the subtle cues from their classmates that in the class. This included the perceived play a stronger role in regulating their attitudes of other students in the class, lack classroom behavior. It is our responsibility of close friends, lack of teamwork, and the as instructors to recognize this situation. passivity of other students. The students Instructors should be aware of the implicit themselves may not view and realize how as well as the explicit messages in the important other students are in their classroom. In order to produce a truly language learning process, but as their effective environment for language learning, answers reveal, other students were indeed students should be made aware that directly related to whether they performed interactions between students are equally, if and utilized language in class and thus in not more important, than interactions learning English (see Appendix). between teacher and students. This is not Most students reported that they held always an easy task but an understanding favorable opinions toward the instructor. and awareness of these implicit messages Yet despite their positive perceptions of the will serve to guide the instructor when instructor and overall positive attitudes trying to create a classroom conducive to about the class, these did not automatically learning and fostering and nurturing promote active language acquisition. positive attitudes in the classroom. To respond to the students’ claim that Educational Implications there is no English conversation in an Clearly the classroom environment, English conversation class, - it’s not that specifically student dynamics, plays a very there is no talking in class. Rather, the important role in English language learning students’ expectations about what in Japan. As evidenced in this study, constitutes conversation are different from students explicitly blamed themselves for what they actually experience in class. lack of effort and motivation in studying Students are traumatized by exam English and learning English. Equally blamed, and so regard any formalized fashion of though implicitly, are other students in the studying English with suspicion. (Nunan, class who detract from the learning 1993) This would explain their desire for environment by not being active, being too conversation, specifically free talk. I would quiet, and failing to foster a friendly interpret this as reactionary emotional atmosphere conducive to learning. (Hoekje, resistance - choosing a learning style 1993) The words nervous and shy appear completely different from what they had frequently when students try to explain why known, dreaded, and hated. Free talk they cannot learn English. A better word to ideally has no rules or parameters. It is describe their feelings is fear, - fear of spontaneous, and most important of all, making mistakes in front of others, fear of natural. When students say they want outdoing others, basically a fear of standing English conversation, it is this natural and out especially if they do not know the other spontaneous free flow of ideas and people very well. Classes where students information for which they are hoping. get along with each other naturally show a However, in order to engage in a higher participation rate. I have observed conversation, even a basic one, students must acquire the necessary grammar and 46 Teacher Development vocabulary. This can only be achieved References through practice and effort. In a typical Cogan, D.C. (1995). Should Foreign Teach- conversation class there is controlled ers of English Adapt Their Methods to practice leading to free practice. Students Japanese Patterns of Learning and do not seem to appreciate the necessity of Classroom Interaction? The Language the controlled practice and reject it as boring Teacher, 19(l) 36-38. and not “real” English. Students have to Hoekje, B. (1993). Group Work, the Teach- realize that learning English is not always er’s Role, and the Student-Centered fun and games. It requires work. Students Classroom. TESOL ]ournal, 3(2), 4-6. should also realize the importance of Larsen-Freeman, D., and Long M. H. (1991). student-student interactions because An Introduction to Second Language learning a language is a social, interactive Acquisition Research. New York: process. (Toms, 1994) Teachers are Longman. facilitators. As facilitators we can help Nunan, D. (1993). Challenges in EFL students learn by giving them support and Classrooms. TESOL Matters, 3(4), 7. guidance. We are not there to learn for Toms, C. (1994). A Reply to Kazuhiko Iino. them. The Language Teacher, 18(ll) 40-43. Appendix (1) Some Responses to Open-Ended Questions I like this class because . . . It’s a friendly class. I have friends in the class. I can learn with friends. It is a pleasant class. The students are positive. I have many friends. I like to speak with other students. I don’t like this class because . . . It’s not active. It is a quiet class. Some students not positive and active. Strangers are in the class. Other students are not positive. No friends in the class. Not a friendly class. Classmates are not friends. Not everyone tries to use English often. No teamwork. Group work. No discussion. (2) Some Highlights of the Questionnaire - 61% reported that they would like to have class only once a week. - 49% reported that 90 minute classes are too long. - Although a majority reported coming to class every week, bringing their textbooks and being punctual, - 59% never prepared before class and an overwhelming - 73% never reviewed the lesson after class. - 28% reported that they do not even try to use English during class. - 48% reported being active in class sometimes, rarely, or never. - 46% reported that they sometimes, rarely, or never worked hard in class. 47 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Exploring Teacher Education Through Video Eric Reynolds & Mark O’Neil ALC Education Teacher isolation is a real issue facing development became our first hurdle. Julian every teacher in every classroom. Whether Edge states: or not we have daily contact with other Here we are close to the heart of a teachers of our subject, most of us want paradox. When I use the word development, more opportunities to talk with other I always mean self-development. But that professionals about ideas and work with cant be done in isolation. Self-development them on practical issues of classroom needs other people: colleagues and students. teaching We want more input and interac- By cooperating with others, we can come to tion regarding our teaching. As an institu- understand better our own experiences and tion that provides English language services opinions. (1992, pp. 3-4) at client sites around Japan, we face the From an institutional point of view, we physical reality that teachers will generally can easily mandate the time, we can express be teaching at the same time of day in quite our steadfast belief that continuing develop- separate locations. Few opportunities for ment is essential to the teachers as a group either peer-observation, or team-teaching and as individuals as well as to the institu- exist for our teachers. Yet each of you to a tion, and we can provide the money and the certain extent, share these forces of isola- scheduling to facilitate such a project. tion-whether you are a part-time instructor Ultimately, teachers must choose their own working at several institutions, part of a tiny course of growth, or there will not be any minority of English teachers at a larger growth. ‘Teacher Development is no institution, or simply have a tight schedule! different from personal development, and as This lack of teacher-teacher classroom such can only be self-initiated, selfdirected, interaction mandates a new approach to and self-evaluated” (Underhill, 1992, p. 79). teacher development. Our approach has From the point of view of the teachers, been teacher development through video. In attending mandatory training sessions is this article we will cover our rationale and entirely different from modifying ones goals, the groundwork for the project, a paradigms for continuing professional description of the workshops, and finally development. It is deeper, and personally feedback and reflections on this project. valid; therefore, we chose to keep training sessions on a paid voluntary basis. Follow- Rationale and goals ing the suggestions of Nunan (1992) and We began with the idea that teachers Underhill (19921, our goal as workshop should direct their own “development,” as facilitators was to create a climate of trust opposed to receiving “training” using and support in which individuals could Freemans (1982) definitions. This is not to discover a means of developing as teachers. say that more structured “training” is not That climate, in turn, would make continu- part of the broader “education” program at ing development, dialogue, and profession- our institution - it is. This project, however, alism standard. The rest of the paper will was designed to allow teachers to find their consider how we conducted this project, and own roles and directions as teaching what the results were. professionals. Yet, this very concept of . 48 Teacher Development open ones awareness and enable them to Groundwork tackle their problems. We began with the results of a teacher In the initial workshop, teachers refined survey indicating the teaching staff felt a the design of the workshop, and drew up need for more opportunities for teacher the following broad vision of what the education, and that some teachers would workshops would be used fur: like to observe each others’ classes more often to share ideas and to learn from each l training in education other. The administration is keen to improve l developing professionalism teaching quality, and sees increased teacher l creating a sharing culture education as one way to achieve this. l developing the quality of teaching Serendipitously, efforts to improve feedback l fostering the commitment of teachers to learners had led us to purchase seven l developing a spirit of team-work and video cameras to record classroom activities mutual support for revision and awareness. Before finalizing the format of teacher None of these suggestions apply specifically development workshops, we resurveyed to the concept of using video for peer our teachers regarding their enthusiasm, observation; however, they do indicate a attitudes, and interest. Teachers commented foundation of beliefs that could support on previous teacher training or develop “development” existed among the partici- ment. They were also asked whether pants. educational change tends to be administra- A video recording of consenting tion led or teacher led, and which they teachers at work was also shown. The thought might be more effective. bottom-up participants were asked if and how video change seemed to be superior to us, based could be used as part of a long term teacher on Nunan (1989), Webb (1992), and Gul development initiative. Since many teachers (1993), but we were interested in what our were eager to observe their peers in the instructors thought. Teachers that re- classroom, teachers could be encouraged to sponded agreed upon two broad concepts take a video camera along to one of their and that agreement seemed unrelated to classes and present parts of those video qualifications or teaching experience: recordings in the workshops. This idea was met with a mixture of enthusiasm and l educational change comes from joint reluctance. Reluctance is understandable administrative/teacher initiatives (in since presenting one’s video to a group of contradiction to our background peers is akin to having several observers in research) one’s classroom. Merely the word “observa- l interaction with teachers is the best tion” conjures up the terrifying feeling of way to develop as teachers (in “evaluation.” The depth of effect often agreement with our background depends on their experiences. Fitzpatrick research) suggests: It may be that the judgemental role of A final question of whether teachers could the observer in such instances makes help each other by only listening produced a teachers subsequently reluctant to let a mixed response. Some saw an opportunity colleague into their classroom. Conse- for idea or activity exchange. Others felt quently, it is important to remove any simply listening was unlikely to achieve notion of ‘the right way to teach’ and to anything, and additional idea sharing and provide a clear framework for the way that constructive criticism would be needed to the observations are to be carried out if the hone their own views. A small number scheme is to be constructive, ‘safe’ and pointed out the value of verbalizing rewarding. (1995, p. 14) Thus, the first issue thoughts to clarify them. One teacher to address at our training sessions was pointed out that most people are, subcon- creating safe, rewarding environment that sciously at least, aware of the answers to was also interactive and constructive. their own problems, and verbalization can Our participants are still struggling with the concept of constructive criticism. To 49 On JALT96: Crossing Borders offer criticism that is both phrased construc- Following the principle that adults tively and then taken constructively can be value their own experience as a resource for hard -at times it seems impossible. “Most further learning and that they learn best observation is for teacherevaluation when they have a personal investment in purposes, with the result that teachers the program, workshop content should, as generally regard observation as a threat. far as possible, be derived from the partici- This leads to tension in the classroom, and pants themselves. (1989, p. 112) tension between teacher and observer at any Administrative consultation would be pre- or post-observation meetings” (Sheal, both available and low profile. Thus, the 1989, p. 93). We are so accustomed to this participants were empowered to direct their evaluation paradigm that we often express own professional development. Here is the thoughts more harshly than we intend, framework that was chosen: particularly when those issues are closely related to ego-intensive topics: faith, ethics, l An atmosphere of mutual trust and and in our case, career. We approached this support is encouraged so that challenge from two angles based on Edges individuals can develop as teachers. ideas from his text Cooperative Development l Each week, one teacher chooses a (1992), and Faneslows “mirroring” concept class, and gains the students’ permis- from Contrasting Conversations (1992). sion to record the class. Particularly important in cooperative l The teacher video records all or part development is the idea of an of the lesson. Before the workshop “Understander,” a person who can under- the teacher edits the video for use in a stand a colleague’s ideas in a judgement-free single workshop. context and who ran by reflection help that l Thr teacher acts as presenter and sets colleague better understand himself and the scene and the task(s). choose his own direction for growth. The l Observers make every effort to be term reflection echoes Faneslows mirroring. non-judgmental during discussion. Faneslows concept, however, comes from l Criticism is to be avoided and the opposite direction: the listener sees his feedback is to be constructive. own reflection in the speaker, “as I look in my lens I consider you a mirror; I hope to The participants discussed ways of see myself through your teaching” (1988, p. overcoming reluctance to show others 115). We hoped that sensitizing activities for anything but the best clips of their lessons. these two purposes would create the “One can in fact learn as much from in- necessary environment. Admittedly, this stances of poor practice as one can from was a new approach for us and for our successful practice” (Nunan, 1989, p. 112). It teachers. As a case in point, when we was hoped that the participants would presented Faneslows quote above, a teacher overcome their inhibitions in trying to whom we consider very sensitive to emo- understand performance to attain their tional issues reacted quite strongly: ‘This is potential following Undcrhill’s (1992) bull-!” she said. Her reaction illustrates equation, Performance + Development = the breadth of the paradigm shift we were Potential. The aim of showing and watch- asking of our teachers, and we had a long ing was clearly stated as not evaluation but way to go. self-exploration. “Observing others or ourselves to see teaching differently is not The sessions the same as being told what to do by others. A regular development workshop to Observing to explore is a process: observing include video observation was proposed by to help or evaluate is a product” (Faneslow, us, in response to teacher suggestions. 1992, p. 183). Decisions about framework and content Another important issue for our group were left to the participants. Since partici- was the intrusive effect of a video camera in pants “buy into” the scheme, they have a our classrooms. On many occasions learn- personal investment in making it successful, ers’ behavior is altered significantly with the as Nunan notes: introduction of an observer. Students, too, have an aversion to being observed, if they 50 Teacher Development feel they are being evaluated! Through to guarantee the same participants from one example and practice, these difficulties were week to the next. This seems linked to our addressed in a variety of ways -student learning paradigm. Participants seemed to control of the equipment, making the taking be asking to improve in tangible or measur- of the video part of the lesson, placing the able ways from week to week, so that they camera in the farthest comer of the room, could build toward a goal. Perhaps some videotaping the teacher rather than the grouping of focus in videos could take students - with a corresponding variety of place, yet chances are that such a structure effects. would prove more detrimental than benefi- After discussion, thought, and prepara- cial. The very nature of the program focuses tion, the teachers bundled up their cameras, on long term benefits and continuing went to their classes, recorded themselves, development. The desire for short term, did their editing, bit the bullet, and shared measurable gains seems to run counter to their ideas. The specific workshops and the those goals. Significant anecdotal evidence details of the workshops are, for this article, supports our belief that these long term not as important as the effects on teachers’ goals are being met. Teachers have made professional development. comments like: “I’m really pleased. Since I started teaching here I’ve really changed my Feedback and reflections teaching. h’s so much better” or “I really After several months of the project, we like teaching here, we get so much support elicited feedback from the twenty-odd and training.” participants in the workshops - including While some of our support for the ones that had attended and later opted out. success of the project is anecdotal, we have The most frequent comment regarded a seen tangible changes in interaction patterns desire for more structured or specific among the teaching staff. Where the amount workshops. We were a little taken aback, of time they spent in our head office doing because, as I mentioned earlier, our teacher research, preparation, and administration education program includes more struc- had been minimal before, we now had large tured, technique-specific training in things numbers of teachers coming in on a regular like error correction and classroom manage- basis, and quite often starting an hour ment. Further discussion revealed that before the workshops, and continuing for an many who wanted more specifics were hour or more after. Administrative details - actually commenting more on the inconsist- reports, scheduling, etc. - ran much more ency of the video presenters’ presentations. smoothly. Social interaction between Some presenters carefully edited their teachers also increased, which may not have videos, created worksheets and other tasks direct effects on professional development, based on their ideas for their own video, but a greater sense of community within the while others simply showed their video and institution must be a plus. A few teachers asked for feedback and discussion. Indeed, even began doing joint research projects it is a valid comment. How much can which have turned into training sessions for quality be improved by administrative other teachers and may turn into something involvement, and more clearly stated more. expectations, and how much variation is These blossoming projects are indeed inherent in participant-centered workshops the gem of our workshop project. Tessa where teachers have different teaching Woodward similarly describes a ripple effect styles? The question of how quality affects in teaching and training: learner/participant-centered projects is an A more natural way forward may be to excellent subject for future research. start experimenting and apply insights one Another comment that was almost as at a time. This fits the current ‘post-method’ frequent was a hope for more guidance or a thinking and is in line with the current sense of direction. Each workshop by its metaphor: the ‘teacher as researcher’. . . . nature was modular. Not only because we You may start with an apparently tiny were dealing with different teachers, and change and find that the ripple effect is classes, but also because there was no way considerable and beneficial throughout the course. (1996, p. 9) 51 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Our ripple effects include the research education: Empowering teachers. mentioned above, teaching retreats, materi- Newsletter of the IATEFL Teacher Develop- als development, simulations for working ment Special Interest Group, 23. toward institutional goals, as well as task Nunan, D. (1989). A client centered ap- forces to share information and address proach to teacher development, ELT issues among different sections. The kernel Journal, 43(2), 111-8. of change is working and growing from the Sheal, l? (1989). Classroom observation: impetus of this joint administrative/teacher training the observers. ELT Journal, video observation project. 43(2), 92-l 03. Underhill, A. (1991). The role of groups in References developing self-awareness. ELT Journal, Edge, J. (1992). Cooperative development. 46(l), 71-80. London: Longman Group. Underhill, A. (1992). Teacher development. Freeman, D. (1982). Observing teachers: Plenary talk at British Council Mexico - three approaches to in-service training. Best of British ELT 1991. Newsletter of the TESOL Quarterly, 16(4), 218. IATEFL Teacher Development Special Fanselow, J. (1988). Let’s see: Contrasting Interest Group, 17, 2-5. conversations about teaching. TESOL Webb, D. (1992). Managing conflict. ELT Quarterly, 22(l), 113-30. Management, 10, 5. Fanselow, J. (1992). Contrasting Conversa- Woodward, T. (1996). Paradigm shift and tions. White Plains, N.Y.: Longman. the language teaching profession. In J. Fitzpatrick, F. (1995). Peering at your peers. Willis and D. Willis (Eds.), Challenge The Teacher Trainer, 9(2), 14-6. and Change in Language Teaching, Gul, B. (1993). A quality approach to Oxford: Heinemann ELT. Cross-cultural Aspects of Teachers’ Roles Barbara H. Wright Korea University Recent research by the presenter in teachers (25 Japanese teachers of English Teacher Education courses in Japan and the and 25 American teachers) were asked to U.S. has shown that teachers in these two rate the most important characteristics in a countries see their role in the classroom very good teacher. The results of the survey differently. These future and present showed a distinct culturally bound view of teachers have different views of the ideal the ideal characteristics required to pursue a characteristics required to pursue the career career in teaching. In the survey the subjects of teaching. Different qualities may be listed the characteristics which they viewed desired to be perceived as a good teacher in as most important in the teachers they most Japan and this also may account for admired in their secondary school differences between outcomes in the two experience. In this way the qualities were school systems. listed and ranked. A comparison of the top rated qualities chosen by each group is as The Statistical Survey follows. In the study, two clases of future 52 Teacher Development “A good teacher is someone who Survey in Japan Survey in the U.S. gives good advice 88% 4% helps students feel comfortable 71% ? is interesting 65% 83% helps students to improve 65% ? is understandable 59% 17% knows students well 59% ? makes students think 53% 57% gives a lot of information* 53% 61% is understanding and kind 53% 43% is friendly 53% 43% is fair 53% 26% respects students ? 43% is organized ? 52% is dedicated ? 39% motivates students ? 48% encourages creativity ? 39% *Intelligent and Knowledgeable ? = subjects did not choose this quality While the two groups of teachers corroborate similar conclusions about the agreed on some of the qualities (interesting, differences between the educational process makes students think, gives lots of in the two countries. One type of evidence information, friendly, understanding, and which was presented was in the form of kind), there are other characteristics on videotapes of students’ practice teaching. which the two groups did not agree. The Another type was classroom observation in Japanese teachers emphasized that the both countries. teacher should give good advice (88%), know students well (59%), make students Videotaped Evidence feel comfortable (71%), and help students Videos of students’ practice teaching in improve (65%). The American teachers Japan and the U.S. were shown to illustrate listed other qualities as more important to some differences in teaching style. Portions them: respects students (43%), is organized of the videotaped practice lessons illustrate (52%), is dedicated (39%), motivates how the teaching style which the student students (48%), and encourages creativity teachers deemed important correspond to (39%). Understandable was a characteristic some characteristics which they listed as which 59% of the Japanese teachers listed, essential to good teaching. but only 17% of the American teachers In Videotape example A, an American agreed. For American teachers it was most teaching candidate conducts a U. S. History important that a teacher be interesting class for Japanese students. In her lesson (83%), but for the Japanese teachers this was plan, she was going to discuss the masons tied for third most important at 65%. for the Vietnam War. However, her students The results of this study, if they hold had expected her to give a lecture on that true for other groups of teachers in both chapter. She planned to have a class countries, would have far reaching discussion with the students and hoped that implications for the teaching profession, for they had read the chapter about the Vietnam teacher training, and for the educational War in the assigned text and that they systems of both countries (Wright 1993, would be able to discuss opposing views on 1994,1995). In order to test some the war in such a way as to demonstrate hypotheses about differences between the their critical thinking skills on a two countries, an effort was made to collect controversial topic. However, she was other kinds of evidence which would On JALT96: Crossing Borders unprepared for the response of Japanese Classroom Observations students who refused to look at her and Classroom observations by this declined to volunteer information or researcher in Japan and the U.S. confirm that disagree with assertions she was making. the videotapes reflect an accurate picture of As she tried to get her students to discuss how classes are being conducted differently the topic in a critical way, they continued to in the two countries. This researcher look at their desks politely with little believes that the differences in classroom comment until the teacher changed her behavior are indicative of the differences in method to a more acceptable lecture mode. expectation of the students. In Videotape Example B, a pair of In Example A, from a Japanese junior Japanese teacher candidates conduct an high school classroom in Kobe, students English class for Japanese students. These were asked to practice dialogues much as in students stood formally in front of the class the videotape B. After this, the students sat and asked the students two at a time to mad at their desks individually writing out the dialogue about students meeting in a English grammatical exercises. The teacher cafeteria on campus from a text that they stayed in the front of the class most of the had been given. The pair of teachers time and only circulated late in the class modeled and explained the dialogue for the period to check answers to questions that class beforehand. However, the students the students had completed individually responded as required by reading the In Example B, from a Japanese college dialogues but without any additional style in Tokyo, the professor stood in front of the or inflections of their own and without class reading from a notebook of Economics much enthusiasm. lectures while the students copied what he In Videotape Lesson C, four American was saying. At times he paused from his teacher candidates conduct an integrated lecture to let students catch up to where he Science class for their classmates who posed was in his notebook while he wrote some as immigrant children. In this lesson, the figures on the board. teachers read a science story book about a In Example C from a U.S. History tree in the rain forest. First, they got the classroom in a California high school, the students’ attention by creating a scene with teacher began by asking students to take 10 posters, sounds, music, and costumes. As minutes to imagine that they were soldiers one teacher read, the other teachers took in World War I and were writing a letter turns acting out the scenes in the book and home from the Front. What things would finally the students were asked to take part they write about concerning the war and in the activities in a sort of readers’ theater what things would they say about other competition between groups of students. events of the day? How would they have There was good involvement of students, felt about fighting in the war? Next they and the teachers allowed plenty of room for were asked to make maps of the current creativity territorial boundaries of countries of that The differences in the teaching methods time period. Finally they split into groups in the three groups reflect basic differences to create U.S. History questions for a in what was perceived by the teachers to be “Jeopardy contest” that would be held the the best way to present their material. In following day. They students seemed examples B (practicing dialogues) and C (an interested and engaged in their activity as interactive media lesson), the teachers felt the teacher circulated and gave help and that they knew their students‘ expectations encouragement. for a lesson and they tried to conform to these expectations. In example A, the Conclusions teacher misunderstood the expectations of Although it is difficult to draw any firm the students who had been anticipating a conclusions from a limited sample, it lecture and were prepared to take notes. It appears that the evidence is indicative of was the teacher who had to change her different outcomes in the educational methods. systems of Japan and the U.S. especially in Teacher Development the area of teachers, students, teacher systems of the two countries are different. training, and the educational system as a In the U.S. there may be more emphasis on whole. treating each student as a unique individual In the area of teachers’ outcomes, one responsible for his own actions in society implication of the study seems to be that whereas in Japan there may be a need to different qualities may be needed to be a reaffirm the responsibilities of each member successful teacher in Japan than are of the class to work together to accomplish required to be successful in the U.S. Thus a their goals. Thus, any changes in teaching teacher who is educationally qualified to methods need to be balanced against the teach in the U.S. (Celce-Murcia, 1991, pp. 5- changes which will result in society as a 9) may lack the other characteristics whole (Wright, 1995, p. 13). Changes in necessary for teaching in Japan (Wright teachers’ roles, teaching methods, and 1994) and the converse may also be true. teaching style in a country may lead to The reason for differences is probably that unexpected changes in the society. our schools reflect our cultural values and the cultural norms that we wish to instill in Questions from the participants our students. Question: You said that your study In the area of student outcomes, an assumed that the student teachers were important implication is that differences in patterning their expectations for good the outcomes of the school experiences (in teachers on the teachers that they had the two countries) could be tied to the experienced in their own schooling. What different characteristics needed by teachers happens if we don‘t admire anyone that we in the two cultures or educational goals in have had for a teacher? the two cultures. In the U.S. school system, Answer. Yes, that is a valid point. What for example, where creativity and does happen in the case that you have seen individuality or critical thinking are nothing to emulate in previous teachers? I stressed, the students who exit from the think that your previous teachers have system will have developed their creativity influenced you to react against the model of and individuality Whereas in Japan, where teaching that they represented. Isn’t it creativity and individuality are not possible that you are reacting against what necessarily encouraged, the students will be you have experienced by trying to find a less well developed in this way. better way to teach? In the area of teacher training, it is Question: I wonder whether a teacher could important to note that Japanese classrooms modify the way students learn in his are monocultural. But between 1980 and classroom. Is it possible to help them 1990, over 7.1 million people from diverse develop their learning style or is this just a cultures immigrated to the U.S. thus form of the cultural imperialism that Dr. Braj impacting on the public schools (Garcia, Kachru spoke of in his plenary address? 1994, p. 7). This means that teacher training Answer: I think that the type of cultural in states such as California with large imperialism referred to by Kachru (1996) numbers of immigrants needed to take into and Edge (1996) is a conscious effort on the account the diverse background of students part of a teacher to modify behavior as he coming to school (Darder, 1991, pp. 118-128). wants it to be. In one such scenario, a Thus, special teacher training needed to be teacher from another country comes to given so as to prepare teachers for teaching Japan and requires students to modify their diverse students (Nieto, 1996, p. 353). previous learning style in favor of a style Similarly, any school system with large which the teacher prefers. What follows is a numbers of non-native students will need to mismatch of the teacher’s and the students’ adapt teacher training and classroom expectations. On the other hand, learner practices to suit the students’ needs. As a development involves a teacher helping result, teachers who are trained to teach in students to find their own ideally suited these systems are prepared to teach in the learning style (Chamot and O’Malley, 1994, multicultural or foreign culture setting. pp. 16-17.) whether or not it matches that of In the area of the educational system, it the teacher. seems that even the goals of the educational. Question: Isn’t it possible that an ESL On JALT96: Crossing Borders teacher might teach students to behave cognitive academic language learning differently in their classes (for example, to approach. Menlo Park, California: question authority) and perhaps cause a Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. potentially threatening situation for other Darder, A. (1991) Culture and power in tke teachers in their school? classroom a critical foundation for Answer: Yes, this is a real problem in some bicultural education. Westport, classrooms where visiting teachers have Connecticut: Bergin & Garvey. been invited to team teach with local Edge, J. (1996) Crossing borders: Some values teachers (Snow, 1996, pp. 38-39, 276). The to declare. Plenary presented at the JALT visiting teacher proposed teaching students National Conference. Hiroshima, Japan. how to respond in the way that he, the Garcia, E. (1994) Understanding and meeting teacher, wanted. In other words, to develop tke challenge of student cultural diversity. their learning style to match those of the Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin teacher. But the local teachers in the school Company. did not want this kind of behavior in their Kachru, B. (1996) World Engliskes: Models, classes and felt threatened. But without a creativity, and identities. Plenary concerted effort on the part of all of their presented at the JALT National teachers, students will probably not be able Conference, Hiroshima, Japan. to rapidly adapt to such a change in Nieto, S. (1996) Affirming diversity second teaching style for just one ESL class per day. edition. USA: Longman publishers. Obviously if the other teachers do not want Snow, Don. (1996) More than a native speaker to change their own teaching methods to an introduction for volunteers teaching conform to the ESL teacher’s preferred style abroad. Alexandria, Virginia: TESOL. then changes will not occur. Wright, B. H. (1993) Teaching style and teachers' attitudes. Paper presented at the References Tokyo JALT Mini-Conference, Tokyo, Celce-Murcia, M., ed. (1991) Teaching English Japan. as a second or foreign language second Wright, B. H. (1994) Cultural expectations and edition. Boston, Massachusetts: Heinle & teacher training. Paper presented at the Heinle Publishers. JALT National Conference, Matsuyama, Chamot, A. U. and J. M. O’Malley. (1994) The Japan. CALLA handbook implementing the Wright, B. H. (1995) “Educating English teachers for classrooms abroad.” TESOL Matters. 5(2) 13. Materials Writers NSIG Workshop: Professional Critique of Preliminary Textbook Manuscripts Ian G. Gleadall Ohu University The workshop organizer and moderator Debbie Goldblatt (Cambridge University was Jim Swan, Materials Writers (MWNSIG) Press). Chair. The four editors who kindly agreed to Prior to the workshop, calls were made participate were: Nancy Baker (Prentice- through The Language Teacher and the Hall, Asia); Michael Boyd (Longman, Asia); MWNSIG newsletter for textbook Chris Foley (Oxford University Press); and manuscripts (MS's) to be presented 56 Teacher Development anonymously to the participating editors for something fitting this niche? reviewing. There were four submissions, all l Does it fit into the company’s long- attractively presented: term plan? (Most companies have various long-term strategies in play.) 1. a conversational course textbook l Are there any resources to invest in it? 2. an English-through-music book Do we have the staff7 3. an activity book l Is it good? Good is a necessary, but 4. a general four-skills book not sufficient, condition for acceptance. They were generally considered by the l Will the author promote? That is, is editors to target too small a niche to become the author well-known? viable commercial textbooks. Each made some use of computer graphics but the Chris Foley fully endorsed the above points fourth one in particular was complimented and added the following: on its design and layout. The editors all complimented the l Does this MS make an educational workshop afterwards, contrasting its contribution? That is, does it provide specificity to similar TESOL workshops, a unique, interesting solution to which have usually been too general and learning problems? without actual MS's to focus comments on. l Will it have a wide enough audience Unfortunately, comments on the individual to make publishing worthwhile? In MS’s at this JALT96 MWNSIG workshop particular, can non-native teachers were very brief due to time constraints. The use it without extra explanation? editors’ comments are summarized in the following section. Debbie Goldblatt added that the book should be self-explanatory and able to stand General comments on publishers’ by itself. She encouraged prospective criteria for acceptance of a textbook authors to call their chosen editor first and manuscript talk about their ideas. Nancy Baker advised The main point made, both at the that before presenting their material to a beginning and at the end of the workshop, professional editor, authors should first was that developing a working relationship show their material to co-workers and let with a publisher is the best way to get them pilot it in order to iron out the published, if only because that is the way inevitable preliminary glitches. This basic publishers organize their projects. Sending a rule applies even for projects that have been manuscript to an editor without any prior agreed upon. communication is generally unproductive, since the MS will probably not even be Points to consider in textbook writing looked at. There are few exceptions to this and preparation rule, and the extensive general comments from the four editors elaborated on the 1. Proposal: Provide the publisher with reasons why unsolicited materials have a a clearly written, rational proposal very high probability of being rejected. arguing the reasons why (s)he should Michael Boyd explained that his consider your textbook. company publishes 60-70 textbook titles a 2. Competition: Know the market and year, from specifically organized projects. In know your competitors; find out addition, 100-200 unsolicited proposals are which books yours would compete received. With works of fiction this is no with and include these titles in your problem, but unsolicited MS’s in the field of proposal. language teaching are normally destined for 3. Assumptions: What do target the rubbish bin. If a publishing editor even students already know about the looks at such a MS, he is likely to ask subject and skills to be taught? him?herself the following questions: 4. Organization: Plan the appearance of new grammar; it should not just l Do we need it? Do we already have appear but be built on and prepared On JALT96: Crossing Borders for in previous sections, etc. Among the various other points 5. Layout: Have a strong page layout (a) discussed, it was stated that copyright is the to ensure that the information on the author’s responsibility Permission for all page is communicated most copyrighted material an author wishes to effectively (this is applicable to all include in a textbook must be obtained materials whether they are intended before the publishing process begins. It was for publication or not); and (b) to noted in particular that permission to use determine the value of the advertisements is very hard to obtain from manuscript. the advertising companies; and that the 6. Art specifications: The visual idea of length of time taken to obtain film copyright the page (arrangement of text and releases renders them too troublesome for pictures, etc.) is very important; publishers to consider. Still pictures used in rough drawings are perfectly language textbooks are usually obtained acceptable. from agencies, which charge as much as 7. Balance: A text on writing, for US$1000 per photograph. example, should not be limited to The main message of this workshop, providing different types of letter then, was that the first move for the format, etc. prospective textbook writer should be to 8. liming: 45 or 90 minute chapters, for approach a publisher to negotiate the example (welldefined “chunks”); writing of materials that fulfill the note that in Japan teachers are said to publisher’s criteria. The route to becoming prefer shorter lessons. an established textbook writer usually 9. Signposting: Illustrate different begins with volunteering to critique or field- stages/sections of the book. test textbooks already in preparation, as this 10. Information (“teacher talk”): Text is a good way to build a working not actually for use by students relationship with a publisher. Textbook belongs in the teachers’ manuals or authorship then begins with an invitation to handouts; the main text should be write teachers’ versions of textbooks about mostly activities. to be published. If this is successful, main textbook authorship will follow. 58 Section Three In the Classroom On JALT96: Crossing Borders Cooperative Learning at the Post-Secondary Level in Japan Steve McGuire Nagoya University of Arts Patricia Thornton Kinjo Gakuin University David Kluge Kinjo Gakuin University Introduction Key Elements Teachers in Japan are often faced with Many of the misconceptions listed what seem to be insurmountable obstacles: above exist because people often mistakenly large classes which meet relatively equate cooperative learning with a mom infrequently and students with low general idea of group work. Cooperative motivation. One solution to these challenges learning is a form of group work, but it goes is to have students work in groups, but even beyond just putting students in groups and then it’s difficult to keep students in large telling them to work together. A properly classes talking and on task. In addition, structured cooperative lesson looks much keeping track of students’ progress can be like a well-prepared traditional lesson: it has difficult in both small and large classes. This clearly defined roles for the students and paper will present cooperative learning as clearly defined goak so students know what an approach which can help solve some of and how they’re supposed to learn. Them these difficulties. Part 1 will be an are nine key elements of a cooperative introduction to the fundamentals of lesson. cooperative learning, including common 1. Positive Interdependence. This is misconceptions, the key elements of a structuring group work so that in order for a cooperative lesson, examples of five group to succeed, all members in the group different models, and a brief overview of the must meet their individual goals. Them are research in support of cooperative learning. several ways to encourage positive Part 2 will be selections from a transcript of interdependence: the roundtable discussion held at the l Positive Goal Interdependence: A group JALT96 conference in Hiroshima. A reading might turn in a single paper or list by topic area is provided in the report, but all students must achieve Appendix. their individual goals, e.g., increase their individual scores by 5%. Part 1: Fundamentals of Cooperative l Positive Resource Interdependence: A Learning group might share one pencil and A Definition of Cooperative Learning: one piece of paper per group. l Positive Reward Interdependence: Every What It Is and Isn’t group member gets 5 bonus points if all group members improve 5%. Before we define cooperative learning l Students and discuss its benefits, we have presented Identity Interdependence: choose a group name, flag, or sign. some of the more common misconceptions l Positive Role Interdependence: A group regarding it in Table 1. . 60 “I’ve used coope doesn’t work.” and telling them to work together is perative learning--there are elements which must be Table 1: Common misconceptions about cooperative learning. may have a reader, writer, 5. Structures and Structuring. There are a encorager, checker, praiser. set of ways to organize student interactions l Positive Outside Enemy with other students and with the content Interdependence: Group competition, (Olsen and Kagan, 1992). Each structure or competition against a group’s explains step-by-step what the teacher and earlier score. students must do. These structures are 2. Team Formation. Research shows that generic, content-f= procedures that can be heterogeneously grouped teams show more used for any subject at any age or benefits than homogeneously formed teams proficiency level. (Dishon and O’Leary, 1984). Factors such as 6. Distributed Leadership. Dishon and age, gender, race, nationality, and language O’Leary (1984) and other practitioners proficiency could be considered in group believe that all group members should have formation. Cooperative groups usually a turn as group leader. consist of 2-4 members. 7. Group Autonomy The teacher should 3. Accountability. Each individual is allow the students to solve their problems accountable for his or her own learning and unaided so that each individual learns to is also accountable to the group. This means rely on the members of the group to explain that grading takes into account individual or to work out ambiguities together; the grades and group grades (Olsen and Kagan, teacher steps in only as a last resort. 1992). 8. Group Processing. At the end of an 4. Social Skills. Most teachers using group activity or unit, the group should reflect on work assume that since the students have how it has performed by reviewing the acquired the social skills required to work skills that it practiced, what it did well, and together in their native language, they don’t what needs to be worked on next time. need to be taught the same social skills in Teachers may provide a handout to track the foreign language. It is often necessary to use of the skills. explicitly teach the language and behavior 9. Face to Face Promotive Interaction. For needed to work together in English. cooperative learning to be effective, the Cooperative learning takes this into account members of the group have to be in very and emphasizes the explicit teaching of close physical proximity, face to face. social skills (Dishon and O’Leary, 1984). 61 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Models of Cooperative Learning problem presented by the teacher. The nine elements listed above are 2. Interaction. Since the class must research found in all models of cooperative learning a topic together, students have ample in varying forms and degrees. The five most opportunities for interaction, which means common models are The Structural they must learn to work as a team and Approach (Kagan, 1989), Group discuss topics. Investigation (Sharan & Sharan, 19921, 3. Interpretation. Students integrate Student Team Investigation (Aronson, 1978; information from a variety of sources and Slavin, 1990), and Learning Together must then exchange information and ideas (Johnson, Johnson, &Johnson Holubec, and integrate what they have learned with 1991). what their research partners share from their own investigations. The Structural Approach 4. Intrinsic Motivation. Since students have The Structural Approach is based on the control of their own learning, are actively use of various distinct sequences of involved in the project following guidelines classroom behaviors, called structures which they set themselves, and must share (Kagan, 1989). A structure is not an activity. what they have learned with others, there is Rather, it is a framework within which an a high level of motivation to learn. activity is done. Olsen and Kagan (1992) suggest that activities cannot often be Student Team Investigation reused meaningfully many times, but This model of cooperative learning was structures can be used over and over again developed by Aronson and Slavin at Johns with different curriculum materials and Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. throughout a syllabus. Two examples of Examples are the various kinds of jigsaw structures, Talking Tokens and Roundtable, activities, and procedures to structure are described below. For a more complete Interdependence. list see Olsen and Kagan (1992) or Kagan (1989). Jigsaw I Step 1 .Each student Talking Tokens. Olsen and Kagan (1992) individually becomes an label this structure as a “communication expert on a topic. builder.” Each student must “spend” a Step 2. Students share token to speak. To talk, the student places a their information with the token in the center of the table. The student small group. cannot talk again until all tokens are in the center of the table. Tokens are then retrieved Jigsaw II The same as Jigsaw I, but and the process begins again. all members have the same Roundtable. Each group has one piece information. Each person of paper and one pen. One student writes a is an expert on a certain contribution and passes the paper and pen task that has to be done to the student on the left. Roundtable can be with the information. used to introduce a new topic or theme or as a review and practice activity Team Jigsaw Step. Each person belongs to a “home team.” Group Investigation Step 2. Each person in the Group Investigation was developed by team is assigned a number. Yael and Shlomo Sharan and is nicely Step 3. Each number goes summarized in Sharan (1994). It to a “mastery team” to incorporates four basic features: master some information investigation, interaction, interpretation, or task. and intrinsic motivation. Step 4. Each student 1. Investigation. The classroom becomes an returns to home team to “inquiring community,” and each student is share information. an investigator who coordinates his or her inquiry into the class’ common research project which is a challenging, multifaceted 62 In the Classroom Curriculum Packages Studies have also been conducted to find Curriculum Packages are sets of out about students’ satisfaction and self- cooperative learning material that are esteem in the different environments. usually specific to a subject and age level. Cooperative learning has been shown to Two commercially published examples are: increase students’ liking for other students Comprehensive Integrated Reading (Cooper, Johnson, Johnson, & Wilderson, and Comoosition fCIRC). 19801, their own self-esteem (Slavin, 1983), Developed by Slavin, Leavey, and their ability to be self-directed (Johnson, Madden (1986), CIRC is a program Johnson, Johnson, & Anderson. 1976), and which combines cooperative their liking for the class in general (Kulik & learning procedures with specific Kulik, 1979). basal reading programs. In general, the studies in language Team Accelerated Instruction (TAI). classes have found that discussion groups Developed by Slavin et al. (1986), and teams were better than whole class TAI is a program which uses instruction for developing integrative and cooperative learning procedures to discrete language skills (Bejarano, 1987) and teach mathematics. that students take more turns in cooperative learning groups compared to a teacher- Learning Together centered class, thus gaining more practice in This approach was developed by David language production (Deen, 1991). and Roger Johnson. Unlike the other more structured approaches to cooperative Part II: Roundtable Discussion learning above, the Learning Together The following discussion was part of approach emphasizes the teaching and the roundtable presented at JALT96. After practicing of the social skills required to hearing an overview of cooperative work together. Even though Japanese learning, participants were invited to ask culture stresses group harmony, students questions of the panelists: Steve McGuire, need to learn how to work together Patricia Thornton (Tricia), and David Kluge. successfully in a foreign language. Teachers Limited space has made it necessary to learn to evaluate material to be taught, choose representative questions from the choose the type of activity appropriate to discussion period. Verbatim accounts have help students learn that material, and been used below in order to retain the oral structure the activity so that all five of the quality of the discussion. elements that the Johnsons regard as necessary for a lesson to be cooperative Question: I have a question about (positive interdependence, individual accountability If one student’s paper is used accountability, group processing, social for a whole group’s grade and that student skills, and face-to-face promotive does badly, doesn’t that create an interaction) are incorporated. atmosphere for bullying or other negative consequences? Does Cooperative Learning Work? Steve: In cooperative learning, students In the past 20 years, there have been know what to expect. They have the chance numerous studies comparing more to practice. They can coach each other and traditional methods of teaching, which are make sure that everyone in the group competitive or individualistic, with understands. There’s motivation for cooperative learning. Johnson and Johnson students to help each other succeed. Also (1989) did a meta-analysis of 352 of these that score wouldn’t be the grade for the studies and showed that achievement was entire year’s class. It is just one activity of higher for students engaged in cooperative many the students will do. learning. Other researchers have shown that David: There are several ways to hold a students more frequently use high-level group, and individuals in a group, reasoning strategies (Spurlin, Dansereau, accountable. One is to take each individual’s Larson, & Brooks, 1984; Larson et al., 1985) score plus the group’s average. Another is to and have higher scores on subsequent tests take one student’s paper within the group as taken individually (Lambiotte et J., 1987). the group’s score. And still another is to take 63 On JALT96: Crossing Borders each student’s score plus the lowest person’s Question: Could you describe a little bit score in the group. The lowest scoring about what you do at the beginning of the student will, next time, work harder to semester when the students are achieve a higher score. first being introduced to cooperative learning? How do you teach the processing language or the Question: What do you do with a student language needed for working in groups? nobody wants to include in their group? Tricia: Rather than give students a lot of Tricia: Doing more team-building activities information at one time, I usually build as within the group is sometimes effective and the semester goes on. So at the beginning I trying to show the special strengths of the may take one week to talk about what student who is unpopular. Or, as the teacher, cooperative learning is or to explain the I might design an activity that would groups. I will teach a little bit of the highlight that student’s abilities to help the functional language that will be needed. other students appreciate them. Then every week I will add new phrases or new information. Question: Do you usually have volunteer or Steve: The Johnsons recommend making T- assigned groups? charts. The T-charts have two columns Tricia: I usually assign groups because I which are used to describe what a social want to build in as much heterogeneity as skill looks like and what it sounds like. For possible. example “What does attentiveness look David: They can also be assigned randomly, like?” might include nodding heads, eyes using playing cards so that all hearts are in open, etc. “What does it sound like?” would one group, all 4s are in one group, etc. include phrases the students might use to show they are listening such as “Urn” or Question: What do you do when students “Uh-huh” or ‘That’s interesting,” etc. are absent from long-term groups? Steve: One thing I’ve done is wait for 2 or 3 Question: Could you give some weeks into a semester to assign groups. By descriptions of some specific tasks that about 3 weeks I have a good feeling for you’ve done? attendance. I grouped students so that if 1 Tricia: 1’11 start with reading. I had a class of had 4 students, at least 3 of them were in 58 first-year junior college students who class most of the time. There is usually 75% were reading American short stories. My or 50% there every week. I tried to balance it goal for the class was that students would so I would have 3 members present every not only read and comprehend, but they week. would also be able to interact with each Tricia: If the task is structured, and other and talk about the literature, sometimes the tasks I develop are more especially the universal themes. So I used structured than at other times, I have found cooperative groups about every other week. that when every person has a particular role, One of my activities was designed to help or a particular task within a larger task, then students learn how to justify their opinions it tends to be more successful. using specific text citations. Cooperative groups were given one sheet of paper with Question: What about the problem of keeping character names from 2 or 3 different stories people in the target language? Is there a we had read. As a group they had to first mechanism for doing that in cooperative learning decide on a characteristic (one adjective) or do you find that they automatically stay more that described each character. Then each in English? student in the group had to find a David: I think a lot of times they fall into the supportive statement in the text and write it native language, the Ll, because they don’t on the piece of paper. This meant that one have the language to do the task in the L2. group had one piece of paper to which all So when you’re talking about the task social students were contributing. skills, it’s important to give them the David: I used cooperative learning two language they need to do that task as well as weeks ago in my speaking class. I chose the team-building social skills. team jigsaw. We were doing a unit in the textbook about planning, so we planned a 64 In the Classroom Halloween party. I had them in home language and the social language and skills groups of 4 members. They had to decide needed to do a task. Students are actively what kind of party (costume, dance, etc.), reflecting on their group performances and the place to have it, and the entertainment. setting goals to improve. Each member had a number 1, 2, 3, or 4. After the home groups finished, new groups were formed with all l’s, all 2’s, etc. Each References person shared what their group decided Aronson, E., Blaney, N., Stephan C., Sikes, with the new group. That new group had to J., & Snapp, M. (1978). The jigsaw come up with a composite of all the best classroom. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. ideas. Then, members went back to their Bejarano, Y. (1987). A cooperative small- home groups to share the composites. group methodology in the language Finally, the whole class decided on the best classroom. TESOL Quarterly, 21(3), 483- plan. 504. Steve: Activities with just one partner are Cooper, L., Johnson, D.W., Johnson, R., & also possible. “Turn to your partner and ask Wilderson, F. (1980). The effects of them for 5 kinds of sports, or sports they cooperative, competitive, and like, or sports they can do.” I like that individualistic experiences on activity because it’s easy and the outcome is interpersonal attraction among obvious to the students: “Wow, I thought of heterogeneous peers. The Journal of 5 things.” Social Psychology, 1 11, 243-252. David: In writing I’ve had a roundtable Deutsch, M. (1962). Cooperation and trust: where groups of 4 students will brainstorm some theoretical notes. In MR. Jones on topics for writing. There’s one paper and (ed.), Nebraska symposium on motivation one person writes, passes it to the next (pp. 275319). Lincoln, NE: University student, and it just goes around and around of Nebraska Press. for 5 minutes. Dishon, D. & O’Leary, l? W. (1984). A Tricia: I've also used jigsaw in writing guidebook for cooperative learning: A classes. In the U.S. in a small ESL class, I technique for creating more effective wanted students to do peer editing. That’s schools. Holmes Beach, Florida: often difficult for ESL students. And so, in Learning Publications. this class, I made groups of 2 or 3 students Johnson, D.W., Johnson, R.T., Johnson, J., & who were experts for a particular kind of Anderson, D. (1976). The effects of editing. For example, one group was cooperative vs. individualized punctuation. Another group was spelling. instructions on student prosocial One group looked for main ideas in behavior, attitudes toward learning, paragraphs. I worked with each group to and achievement. Journal of Educational learn the rules or ideas for their area of Psychology, 68,446-52. expertise. Every group read everyone’s Johnson, D.W., Johnson, R.T., &Johnson paper at some point in the writing process. Holubec, E. (1991). Cooperation in the During the year the expert groups changed classroom. Edina, MN: Interaction Book so that within a whole year every student Company. would be an expert in most of the tasks. Kagan, S. (1989). The structural approach to cooperative learning. Educational Conclusion Leadership, 47(4), 12-15. Cooperative groups can be a very Kulik, J. & Kulik, C.L. (1979). College effective way to help students have more teaching. In P.L. Peterson & H.J. opportunities to use language for real Walberg (Eds.), Research on teaching: communication. Cooperative learning is concepts, findings, and implications. more than just putting students in groups. It Berkeley, CA: McCutheon. involves carefully structuring activities so Lambiotte, J. G., Dansereau, D. F., Rocklin, T. that all students are required to participate R., Fletcher, B., Hythecker, V. I., Larson, in order for the group to be successful. C. O., & O’Donnell, A. M. (1987). Students are learning both task specific Cooperative learning and test-taking: 65 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Transfer of skills. Contemporary of cooperative learning strategies in Educational Psychology, 12, 52-61. multicultural university classrooms. Larson, C. O., Dansereau, D. F., O’Donnell, Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, A. M., Hythecker, V. I., Lambiotte, J. G., 5 (l), 21-30. & Rocklin, T. R. (1985). Effects of Johnson, D.W., &Johnson, R.T. (1989). metacognitive and elaborative activity Cooperation and competition: Theory and on cooperative learning and transfer. research. Edina, MN: Interaction Book Contemporary Educational Psychology, 10, Company. 342-48. Johnson, D.W., Johnson, R.T., &Johnson Olsen, R. & Kagan, S. (1992). About Holubec, E. (1992). Advanced cooperative cooperative learning. In Kessler, C. learning (2nd. ed). Edina, MN: (Ed.), Cooperative language learning: a Interaction Book Company. teacher's resource book. New Jersey: Johnson, D.W., Johnson, R.T., &Johnson Prentice Hall Regents. Holubec, E. (1994). The new circles of Sharan, S. (Ed.). (1994). Handbook of learning: Cooperation in the classroom. cooperative learning methods. Westport, Alexandria, VA: Association for CT: Greenwood Press. Supervision and Curriculum Sharan, Y. & Sharan, S. (1992). Expanding Development. cooperative learning through group Kagan, S. (1994). Cooperative learning. San investigation. New York: Teachers Juan Capistrano, CA: Kagan College Press. Cooperative Learning. Slavin, R. (1990). Cooperative learning: Theory, Karp, D., & Yoels, W. (1987). The college research, and practice. Needham, MA: classroom: Some observations on the Allyn and Bacon. meanings of student participation. Slavin, R., Leavey, M., & Madden, N. (1986). Sociology and Social Research, 60, 421~439. Team accelerated instruction: mathematics. McKeachie, W.J., Pintrich, P.R., Lin, Y-G, Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge. Smith, D., & Sharma, R. (1990). Teaching Spurlin, J., Dansereau, D., Larson, C., & and Learning in the college classmom: A Brooks, L. (1984). Cooperative learning review of the research literature. Ann strategies in processing descriptive text: Arbor, MI: NCRIPTAL Publications, Effects of role and activity level of the University of Michigan. learner. Cognition and Instruction, 1, 451- Slavin, R. (1983). Cooperative learning. New 63. York: Longman. Appendix Cooperative learning in ESL or FL settings and in countries other than Cooperative learning in college and the U.S.: university classes: Bejarano, Y. (1987). A cooperative small- Cooper, J. (1990). Cooperative learning and group methodology in the language college teaching: lips from the classroom. TESOL Quarterly, 21(3), 483- trenches. The Teaching Professor, 4(5), l-2. 504. Cooper, J., Prescott, S., Cook, L., Smith, L., Deen, J. Y. (1991). Comparing interaction in Mueck, R., & Cuseo, J. (1990). a cooperative learning and teacher- Cooperative Learning and College centered foreign language classroom. Instruction: Effective Use of Student Review of Applied Linguistics, 93-94, 153- Learning Teams. Long Beach, CA: 181. Institute for Teaching and Learning. Ford, E. (1991). Criteria for developing an Crawford-Lange, L. M. (1987). Curricular observation scheme for cooperative alternatives for second-language language learning. Canadian Modern learning. In M. H. Long & J. C. Richards Language Review, 48(l), 45-63. (Eds.), Methodology in TESOL: A book of Koltoff, L. J. (1993). Fostering cooperative readings (pp. 120-144). New York: group spirit and individuality: Newbury House. Examples from a Japanese preschool. George, Pamela G. (1994). The effectiveness Young Children, 48(3), 17-23. 66 In the Classroom Lie, A. (1992 ) Jigsaw: Cooperative learning context. International Journal of for EFL students. Cross Currents: An Educational Research, 23(3), 191-300. Instructional Journal of Language Teaching Szostek, C. 1994. Assessing the effects of and Intercultural Communication, 19(l). cooperative learning in an honors McGuire, S. (1992). An application of foreign language classroom. Foreign cooperative learning to teaching English as Language Annals, 27(2), 252-61. a foreign language in Japan. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED354735). Shwalb, B. J. & Shwalb, D. W. (Eds.) (1995). Cooperative learning in cultural Shared Inquiry Fosters Critical Thinking Skills in EFL Students Carol Browning Hokkai Gakuen University Jerold Halvorsen Kokugakuin Junior College Denise Ahlquist The Great Books Foundation “Highly interactive“ is the key phrase collaboratively to solve real problems that that describes the language learning interest them (Schifini, 1993). As reading for environments established in English classes meaning and critical thinking skills are so that feature the shared inquiry method of fundamental to lifelong learning, students reading and discussing outstanding world gain, not only from intensive practice using literature. Acceptance of the idea that English, but from interactions that cultivate students develop communicative the habits of reflection and independent competence “through communication, not thought that make true cross-cultural through conscious structure practice” communication possible. (Savignon, 1983, p, 65) has led foreign Inquiry-based learning approaches in language educators to look for instructional general rely on a constructivist model and strategies that will help create such settings. reorient classroom activities around genuine By including shared inquiry in the questions from both teachers and students. curriculum-posing genuine interpretive The acquisition of competence in a foreign and evaluative questions about a rich work language can be enhanced through using of literature and focusing on developing such questions to develop the critical independent student responses-teachers thinking skills that are the foundation of can invite students to engage in authentic active learning. Krashen, for example, posits communication in a second language. With that mastery of facts and concepts is the sustained practice, students learn to value result of problem solving (1982). Shared their own questions, slowly acquire the inquiry—a method of reading and confidence to express their own ideas, and discussing high quality literature developed are motivated to do their best when working by the Great Books Foundation, an 67 On JALT96: Crossing Borders American non-profit educational interpretations of what they have read. No organization-represents an effective way to matter what literature is chosen, teachers develop these skills. As an alternative should first use a brief pre-reading activity pedagogical approach to teaching English to have students form connections between language and literature, shared inquiry helps their own lives and some of the themes or fulfill Japanese Ministry of Education issues they will encounter in the literature, (Monbusho) guidelines, especially for the especially if the text is from another culture oral components of high school English. or time period. The story must then be read (For a more complete discussion of these several times-aloud by the teacher, aloud points see Browning & Halvorsen, 1995, p. or silently by individuals or groups of 23; Browning & Halvorsen, 1996, pp. 40-41; students-with special care taken to and Browning, Halvorsen, and Ahlquist, encourage students to pose their own 1996, p. 220. For a discussion of the Ministry questions about what they have read. of Education guidelines, see Carter, Goold, Students may be able to answer some of & Madeley 1993; Goold, Madeley & Carter, these questions immediately by pooling 1993; Goold, Carter & Madeley, 1994.) their knowledge or consulting dictionaries. The shared inquiry approach to reading Other questions may require outside and discussion has proven effective with a research or further discussion. Note-taking wide range of Japanese students, including activities that encourage divergent reader low-intermediate learners in a rural junior response and vocabulary work that focuses college, senior English majors in a private on multiple-meaning words in context also women’s college, and adult NHK center lay the groundwork for the interpretations learners who have previously used English that students are already beginning to while traveling or living abroad. Students in develop. Working with partners and in all these settings are guided in an small groups throughout these stages of exploration of the meaning of a complex preparation for discussion is motivating for work of literature by a teacher/discussion students, brings variety to long class leader who is genuinely interested in periods, and helps ensure that student finding out what they think about what they interaction is collaborative. are reading. Selections as brief as “April Once students are familiar with the Rain,” a nine-line poem by Langston story, the teacher more fully takes on the Hughes, or Aesop’s short fable “Lion and role of inquirer in a 60-90 minute shared Mouse” can be used with a group of upper- inquiry discussion. Discussion always level beginners. Intermediate classes can focuses on a genuine problem of meaning in discuss folk and fairy tales like “Jack and the the work, a question that the leader believes Beanstalk,” ‘The Ugly Duckling,” the has more than one answer in the text. By Ethiopian tale “Fire on the Mountain,” or listening carefully and asking follow-up short fables like Tolstoy’s ‘Two Brothers.” questions about students’ responses, the Advanced classes might read a leader encourages each member of the class contemporary short story such as "Gaston" to consider several possible solutions to the by William Saroyan or chapters from problem, test these against evidence in the Kenneth Grahame’s classic work, The Wind text, and come to his or her own and the willows. Each of these selections will interpretation of what has been read. Asking support in-depth exploration of perennial students to prepare a written response to the human problems, while offering valuable question as homework before the discussion opportunities for Japanese students to session is a good confidence-builder and interact with literature from different ensures greater participation by all members cultures. [Note: the above selections are of the class. If both an individual answer available from the Great Books Foundation; and “another answer you heard” are also bibliographic references are included in the written down after discussion, teachers can reference section.] collect these as a way of monitoring Providing the right guidance and listening abilities and participation, even by support throughout the reading process is shyer students in large classes where essential if the goal is to have L2 learners everyone may not get a chance to speak develop and express their own . every time. In the Classroom One advantage of using this method of incorporation of more direct instruction via learning for teaching English to Japanese mini-lessons on grammar, pronunciation, or students is that the teacher starts the culture. interaction at the students’ level of ability Choosing appropriate highquality and understanding. By exploring students’ literature is the first priority. The literature reactions to some of the issues raised before used for shared inquiry must be discussible. It the reading, their questions and responses must be rich enough in ideas and language during reading, and their answers to to sustain in-depth exploration; it must be interpretive questions during discussion, able to support multiple interpretations; and teachers can help students go one step the problems to be explored, while they further in their understanding. No matter should be age-appropriate for the students, what the participants’ level of English, the must be of interest to the teacher as well. leader guides discussions by listening According to Krashen (1982), a good carefully and asking only questions, so that literature program deals with topics and students’ words and thoughts are at the themes of universal and local interest that center of class activities. To articulate encourage students to think about basic difficult concepts, students will occasionally ethical and metaphysical questions. Some need to express the idea first in Japanese poetry selections and many folk and fairy and then work with classmates to translate tales from around the world meet these it into English. This focus on their own ideas criteria while providing foreign language is highly motivating for students, however, learners with texts that are challenging but since even beginning language learners not overwhelming. ‘The Ugly Duckling,” have thoughts and opinions about the for example, engages readers with issues of problems raised by outstanding literature. identity and the impact of bullying on the Highly favorable student evaluations individual. The Ethiopian tale "Fire on the comment that “In this class, we have to start Mountain” explores the inner discipline and thinking in English, so we work harder, but social support needed to overcome external we get more out of it. . . ,” and “I have never obstacles as well as what it means to be true taken such a stimulating course before.” For to one’s word. Such issues call forth teachers, too, the emphasis on student ideas students’ best efforts at genuine means that each class is fresh and one gets communication. to know students in a way that otherwise Careful preparation by the teacher/ rarely happens. discussion leader is the next step. The With various adaptations, the shared process of reading a work carefully several inquiry method of learning has been times, making notes, and writing successfully used by two of the authors, in a interpretive questions familiarizes the leader range of settings, to teach Japanese students with the text and prepares him or her to English as a foreign language. The most respond with more questions as students obvious arenas are conversation or oral develop their own ideas. Working together communication classes and reading classes, if possible, leaders can help each other see but individual stories and some elements of new ways of interpreting the text that can be the approach can also be employed in formulated into questions. For example, in culture courses or for variety in more the story “Jack and the Beanstalk,” did Jack traditional language classes as well. succeed mainly because of luck and magic Difficulties presented by large or lengthy or mainly because of his own abilities? classes and a wide range of language Grouping related interpretive questions abilities can be surmounted by having together into a basic question (luck and students work in pairs or small groups to magic, or abilities?) and more detailed prepare for discussion, by using art or supporting questions (Why does the ogre’s drama activities, and by providing wife help Jack two times?) can help sustain a supervised opportunities for multiple longer, more in-depth discussion. Once readings, student-to-student interaction, and students have come to their own individual reflection. Extending work on a interpretations in discussion, the leader may story over three or more class sessions is want to raise evaluative issues that ask recommended and allows for the students to use their own experience to 69 On JALT96: Crossing Borders agree or disagree with the author. expectations will help teachers work toward Evaluative questions can lead to further and recognize the signs of progress in any discussion or form the basis of post- group. Obviously, not all classes or students discussion writing. (For a detailed will develop at the same rate. And many explanations of the leader’s preparation for students will read and comprehend English discussion and the distinctions between language texts with a higher vocabulary factual, interpretive, and evaluative level than they will be able to use in oral questions, see Great Books Foundation, discussion. Still, shared inquiry learning 1993.) Finally, planning the full sequence of offers natural opportunities for ongoing activities to guide students through the assessment. Students gain confidence when reading process, as well as any distinct mini- they have time to write down their answers lessons that might be done in conjunction before discussion, and informally collecting with this story, prepares the leader to and reviewing this work facilitates the maintain a focus on students’ responses tracking of student growth. Similarly, during class. making notes on seating charts during The leader’s planning is balanced by discussion and other activities not only flags the spontaneity inherent in shared inquiry words or ideas for further exploration, it discussion. Remaining in the role of also enables the leader to record the number inquirer-helping students learn to help of times students speak. Over time, teachers themselves rather than feeding them words will see students move from giving short and ideas-may be particularly difficult for simple answers, to explaining and verbal L1 Western teachers working with supporting their answers with evidence, to Japanese L2 learners. Nevertheless, once responding directly to the ideas offered by students begin to give answers to the other students. opening question, the leader’s most Providing language learning important task is to listen carefully and turn experiences that require this level of critical personal reactions into follow-up questions thinking and verbal interaction-between that will help students develop initial students and rich texts from different responses into more comprehensive cultures, between teachers and students, interpretations. If a response is unclear, and among students themselves-is a asking, “What do you mean by that?“ or challenging but rewarding educational “Could you explain that further?” gives the experience. For foreign language teachers student an opportunity to develop variety in looking for ways to engage students in expression and to clarify his or her own authentic communication activities and thoughts. If the leader understands what the prepare them to participate with confidence student is saying, he or she should ask, in a diverse global society, the shared inquiry “What in the story suggested that idea?” method offers possibilities for developing Having students return frequently to the students’ reading, thinking, and text to cite and examine passages develops communication skills through discussion of critical thinking skills and improves reading outstanding literature in ways that respect comprehension. And using questions to cultural and individual differences while encourage students to listen and respond to helping us all to cross new borders. one another’s ideas and to weigh different possible interpretations is an essential part References of the collaboration implied in the term Aesop. (1992). Lion and mouse. Junior Great shared inquiry. Although Japanese students Books short readings for your first meeting. rarely engage in direct disagreement, over Chicago: Great Books Foundation. time teachers can help students work Anderson, H.C. (1992). The Ugly Duckling. together to provide multiple sources of Junior Great Books series 3, first semester, evidence for an idea, see subtle variations in teacher’s edition. Chicago: Great Books answers, and even gain the confidence to Foundation. express opinions different from those of Browning, C., & Halvorsen, J. (1995). The their classmates. None of this activity can be shared inquiry method for English scripted in advance. language and literature classes in Japan. An open mind, patience, and realistic The Language Teacher 19(9), 22-24. 70 In the Classroom Browning, C., & Halvorsen, J. (1996). Shared Chicago: Great Books Foundation. Inquiry: A refreshing approach to Hughes, L. (1990). April Rain. In Junior Great critical thinking for EFL. The Language Books Read-Aloud Program, Sailing Ship Teacher 20(9), 40-48. series, Teacher’s edition. Chicago: Great Browning, C., Halvorsen, J., & Ahlquist, D. Books Foundation. (1996). Adapting the shared inquiry Jacobs, J. (1992) Jack and the beanstalk. method to the Japanese classroom. In G. Junior Great Books series 2, first semester, van Troyer & S. Cornwell (Eds.), On teacher’s edition. Chicago: Great Books ]ALT 95: Curriculum and Evaluation. Foundation. Tokyo: Japan Association for Language Krashen, S. (1982). Principles and practices in Teaching. second language acquisition. Oxford: Carter, N., Goold, R., & Madeley, C. (1993). Pergamon Press. The new Monbusho guidelines: Part Saroyan, W. (1992). Gaston. Junior Great two. The Language Teacher 17(11), 3-7,39. Books, series 6, first semester, teacher’s Courlander, H. and Leslau, W. (1992). Junior edition. Chicago: Great Books Great Books series 3, first semester, Foundation. teacher’s edition. Chicago: Great Books Savignon, S.J. (1983). Communicative Foundation. competence: Theory and classroom practice. Grahame, K. (1992). Junior Great Books, series Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. 3, second semester, teacher’s edition. Schifini, A. (1993). Vocabulary development: Chicago: Great Books Foundation. The key to reading comprehension for Goold, R., Carter, N., & Madeley, C. (1994). all students. Presentation made at The new Monbusho guidelines: Part California Association of Bilingual three. The Language Teacher 18(l), 4-7. Educators conference. Goold, R., Madeley, C., & Carter, N. (1993). Tolstoy, L. (1992). The two brothers. Junior The new Monbusho guidelines: Part Great Books short readings for your first one. The Language Teacher 17(6), 3-5. meeting. Chicago: Great Books Great Books Foundation. (1993). An Foundation. introduction to shared inquiry (3rd ed.). Story Grammar: A Reading and Discussion Strategy Gregory Strong Aoyma Gakuin University persuasive writing, and newspaper articles. Reading fiction is more difficult for EFL However, a reading strategy which has students than reading expository writing. emerged for use with fiction is story Primarily, this is because there is greater grammar. The idea of a story grammar is potential complexity in fiction in the areas of derived from work in cognitive psychology organization and grammatical structure and anthropology which suggests that (Gadjusek, 1988). Accordingly, there is little stories are told using a common grammar of benefit in the use of reader strategies for the elements of character, conflict, incidents, non-fiction of scanning for details, and the resolution of a conflict. In skimming paragraphs to find the main idea summarizing the research studies of its use and using the contextual clues supplied by in L1, Dimino, Taylor and Gersten (1995) transitional phrases, and the use of note its effectiveness with weak readers. background knowledge about a subject, or Story grammar can also provide a focus knowledge of distinct genres such as for the discussion of a story in a student-led comparison and contrast passages, group. Students can read and then discuss 71 On JALT96: Crossing Borders stories with the goal of understanding how experience and it is easier to talk about it the story grammar terms are used. and review it. The terms are general enough to be Them are many possibilities. For applied to most stories and can provide example, a teacher might use a scene from a students with a common language for video such as The Last Emperor (Thomas, discussion. In addition, them is considerable Bertolucci, 1987) to show a setting. This research support for this type of task-based video deals with the story of Pu Yi, the last conversation as a method of language emperor of the Qing Dynasty in China. learning (Ellis, 1982; Long, 1981). Students could be shown the elaborate ceremony in the Forbidden City where the A Story Grammar Strategy three-year old Pu Yi is proclaimed emperor A variety of story grammars have been of China, or a later scene showing a crowd proposed. The following one is based on of young Communists carrying red banners literary terms adapted from Beckson and during the Cultural Revolution and then Ganz (1987). To begin with, the teacher asked the time and location of the scene. A needs to explain the strategy and model its similar type of approach using video might use. The students need to learn the terms help explain the term “conflict.” thoroughly before they can begin to practise Complex literary terms are another using it and successfully apply it. This matter. A teacher might introduce “point of means learning the definitions of the terms view" in class through a jigsaw reading and the differences between them (See Fig. where the teacher divides the students into 1). different groups and gives each group a The terms can be taught through different passage or “point of view.” ) See numerous types of classroom activities Fig. 2 Once the groups have correctly using a combination of language skills and identified their respective passages, the information gap activities where students teacher breaks these groups into new ones need to communicate information to each where each member has a different passage. other. Some literary terms are mom easily The members of these new groups try to taught than others. For example, a teacher guess one another’s “point of view.” might use a scene from a video to establish After all the groups have finished, they the terms of “setting.“ By using a video, work together in writing from the ”point of everyone will have had the same visual view“ suggested by a character in a scene 1. Setting: the time and location of a story, or novel 2. Point of a story is told from one point of view: a) first person; sympathetic, unreliable, b) third person; factual, little insight into characters’ minds and emotions c) omniscient, insight into the minds and emotions of many characters 3. Conflict: a character is in conflict with himself, or herself, or with someone else: a) man or woman versus man or woman b) man or woman versus himself or herself c) man or woman versus his or her environment 4. Symbol: a thing which stands for another thing, a person, or idea 5. Irony: whenever something happens in a story that is unexpected and yet appropriate 6. Theme: the main idea, a moral or a lesson Figure 1 Literary Terms 72 In the Classroom 1. I could hardly believe it! There was ice ahead of my car. I stepped on the brake to avoid hitting it. But it was too late -My car drove over the ice and skidded off the road. My life passed before me. What a waste! To end it all so miserably this way There was a crash and then everything went black. II. The white Toyota sedan hit the ice on the road and spun out of control. It skidded off the road and hit a fence. It stopped there. The engine was smoking and there was no sign of life. III. The man driving the white Toyota sedan hit the ice before he could even see it. The car went into a skid the man couldn’t control. To his horror, his vehicle left the road and crashed into a fence. It lay there and the engine was smoking. Figure 2 Points of View from a video. The previousactivity provides class inbrainstorming the various ways the the groups with some models for their objects could be categorized. Then writing. In terms of a video, the wedding the teacher asks each student to choose one scene in The Father of the Bride (Gallin, S., object and to write a description of how the Meyers, N.,Burns, C., Rosenman, H. & object could symbolize an idea, a quality, or Shyer, C., 1991) might be useful here. a feeling. Afterward, in groups, students The teacher assigns a different “point of interpret their symbols to each other: for view” to each group in the class as well example, a pen could represent an idea, a as asking some groups to write first person message, literature, or even a maxim like narratives from the perspective ofdifferent “the pen ismightier than the sword”; a characters such as the bride, her father, and padlock could represent a secret; a crime, the groom. After the groups have finished the mysterious unconscious, or deductive their narratives, the teacher then breaks logic. these groups up and the students return to Teaching students a more complex term their initial groups. such as irony might involve them in Each student reads the “point of view’ brainstorming and writing ironic twists. The created in his previous group. The other teacher gives the series of prompts (a), (b) members of the group attempt to guess it, (c) on a handout or on the blackboard. The and if it is a first-person narrative, to students suggest the ironic twists to the determine which character has the prompts. (see Fig. 3) perspective. Alternately, instead of using a video, the teacher could show the students a photograph or drawing where the subjects The second phase of teaching the Story in it are used to illustrate the term “point Grammar strategy begins. The next step is to of view.” guide the students through a use of the Next, descriptive writing helps students strategy with otherexamples. In addition, to better understandsymbols. The teacher the teacher also comments on student use of brings in some objects and then leads the the strategyand students compare their 1. After waiting all morning to eat his lunch, he opened it and... ex. an alligator jumped out and ate him. 2. The thief tried to steal the old lady’s purse, but... ex. she was a karate master, and she beat him up. 3. Poor Alex studied all night for his Chemistry test, only... ex. the test the next day was in Mathematics. Figure 3 Prompts for Ironic Twists On JALT96: Crossing Borders efforts with one another (Anthony & might represent “hope” or “spiritual” Raphael, 1989; Shih, 1992). attainment. After all, it is in the sky and it is The teacher prepares for the second bright enough to be seen by the boy. But one phase, the guided practice, bychoosing a could also argue that the star represents very short story which can be read quickly “radioactivity” or “evil” and in the first in class. The goal of theactivity is not in case, this is how the boy turns into a “star’ reading details and a rich narrative so much himself; he becomes “radioactive.” In the as in applying the story grammar, in this case of “evil,” the argument could be made case, one based on literary terms. Collie and that the star represents dishonesty and Slater (1987) cite a very compact surrealist evasion, a fall from a state of grace whereby tale by Alasdair Gray which would be in concealing the star from his teacher, the effective: boy is in effect telling a lie, and therefore In The Star a young boy sees a ‘star’ becoming evil himself. drop from the sky into the backyard of his These possible explanations of the house. He finds it and treasures it, secretly. theme should all be listed upon the When he takes it to school, however, he is blackboard and given serious discussion in caught looking at it by his teacher. Rather the class to indicate to the students that than relinquish it, he swallows it and different explanations are acceptable, even becomes a star, too. (p.201). admirable. The teacher asks the students to read At this point, the teacher has to assess the story and then label the parts of the how many more stories would be necessary story where the literary terms appear and for the students to attempt as guided note the reason for their opinions. The practice before they could use the story students then check their work in pairs to grammar strategy independently, and see how effectively they were able to furthermore which kinds of genres of analyze the story. Next, the teacher puts the stories, for example, realistic ones, fables, students into small groups to discuss their science fiction, and so on might be choices further. During this time, the introduced in the class. students will be altering their ideas through Once the students in the class contact with other students and enlarging understand all the literary terms and can their understanding of both the terms and apply them reasonably effectively to stories, the story. At this point, the teacher asks the they are ready for independent study in different groups in the class to report on small groups. Teaching the students the their findings and to offer an explanation for literary terms and then providing them with their choices. guided practice is best done over a series of More explanation of the strategy will be classes on literary terms. In the first class, necessary. For one thing, if in discussing the the teacher should explain the literary terms setting of The Star, none of the students to the students and demonstrate their use. mention how the appearance of dates, and The students‘ homework should be to names, or in this case, references to a review the terms, perhaps for a short contemporary lifestyle indicate setting, then matching quiz in the following class to the teacher should do so. The boy in the ensure that students can at least distinguish story has a backyard to his house, and he between terms. Subsequent classwork attends school, which likely places him in a should involve guided practice and then developed country in the 20th century. independent work and self-evaluation. In the same way, a consideration of a After the students understand the few words or phrases in the text can be used strategy, the teacher might use it as the basis to explain each of the literary terms. When for students doing oral book reports on students discuss mole abstract literary terms novels. The story grammar terms lend such as “symbol,” “irony,” or “theme ” then themselves well to summarizing material the teacher should make it clear that ‘ and would help students explain their books multiple explanations are possible, provided to one another. If the class is reading the that students explain their reasoning and same stories or novel, then the teacher could support it through reference to the story. As set up reading study groups. On a rotating a symbol, the “star” in Alasdair’s story basis, each student could be required to 74 In the Classroom serve as a discussion leader with the grammarasameanstoincrease responsibility of encouraging all his or her comprehension. Reading and Writing group members to participate in the Quarterly, 11, 1, 53-72. discussion. Ellis, R. (1982). Informal and formal These small groups are also effective in approaches to communicative language teaching other language skills besides teaching. ELT ]ournal, 36, (2), 73-81. reading. Tasks in which students in a group Gadjusek, L. (1988). Toward wider use of discussion have unique information to literature in ESL: Why and how. TESOL contribute are tasks that encourage Quarterly, 22, 2, 227-257. participation and thus facilitate second Gallin, S., Meyers, N., Bums, C., Rosenman, language acquisition (Long, 1981; Nunan, H. (Producers), Shyer, C. (Director). 1991). (1991). Father of the bride [Video]. Porter (1986) found that learners Touchstone Pictures. produce more talk with other learners than Long, M. (1981). Input, interaction and with native-speaking partners and that second language acquisition. In H. learners do not learn one another’s errors. In Winitz (Ed.) Native language and foreign these ways, using a story grammar reading language acquisition. (Annals of the New strategy aids language learning through York Academy of Sciences, No. 379: improving reading comprehension and 259-278). New York Academy of speaking and listening skills. Sciences. Nunan, D. (1991). Communicative tasks and References the language curriculum. TESOL Anthony, H. M., Raphael, T. E. (1989). Using Quarterly, 25,279. questioning strategies to promote Porter, P. (1986). How learners talk to each students’ active comprehension of other: Input and interaction in task- content area materials. In D. Lapp, J. centered discussions. In R. Day (Ed.) Flood, N. Farrar (Eds.) Content area Talking to learn: Conversation in second reading and learning: Instructional language acquisition. Rowley, MA: strategies. (pp. 244-257), Englewood Newbury House. Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall. Shih, M. (1992). Beyond comprehension Beckson, K., Ganz, A. (1987). Literary terms: exercises in the ESL academic reading A dictionary. New York: Farrar, Straus, class. TESOL Quarterly 26, 2, 289-318 Giroux. Thomas, J. (Producer), Bertolucci, R. Collie, J., & Slater, S. (1987). Literature in the (Director). (1987). The last emperor. language classroom. Cambridge: Video]. Columbia Tri-star. Cambridge University Press. Dimino, J., Taylor, R., Gersten, R. (1995). The author wishes to thank Hisayo Kikuchi Synthesis of the research on story for her translation of the abstract of this article. The Use of Japanese Literature in Reading Classes Sachiko Ikeda Kagoshima Immaculate Heart College Background In reading classes, contextual Using their knowledge of the context and knowledge has been considered very language, readers look at the text and take important in addition to the knowledge of samples to make predictions; they then the language. Reading is a very active brain check if their predictions are correct, and process which uses both written textual then confirm them (Coady, 1979). When information and the knowledge of the readers predict, they can use the knowledge context (Silberstein, 1994; Smith, 1978). they already have, and that knowledge can 75 On JALT96: Crossing Borders help comprehension (Silberstein, 1994). predicting, summarizing, and responding Therefore, the use of background personally Students are supposed to write knowledge can compensate for linguistic their answers in their notebooks of which weaknesses (Coady, 1979). they prepare two, alternating every week. We usually have some experience of This means that they have one week to mad being able to read faster, and understand the assigned pages and answer the mom easily, when we read something on a questions in one of the notebooks, and the topic with which we are familiar. On the teacher has one week to read students’ other hand, when we read something answers in the other notebook. Then, in unfamiliar, our reading speed naturally class, we have a discussion in English based slows down, and sometimes we find it on those study questions. difficult to comprehend. For example, I In each class, after returning the know a Japanese student at a rather low notebooks to students, we review the story English level who had studied at a by summarizing orally to remember the part university in the U.S. In a Japanese novels we are going to cover in that class, and we class she took, she had to mad a number of then have the discussion. This works very famous works translated into English. well in a class of up to 15 students. It is Although she did not have time to check usually helpful to divide students into pairs unfamiliar words in a dictionary, she could or small groups before starting discussion. guess and understand them fairly well as This way, students do not usually feel she had read or heard of the stories while in nervous about speaking up in class because Japan. Japanese students often have of the confidence and security gained while difficulty guessing the meaning of words talking to their partners or group members. they do not know, and want to check those When we finish the book at the end of words in a dictionary. Paying attention to the course, we watch a movie adapted from each word not only slows down the reading the story. After the movie, we discuss our speed, but can also deter comprehension as understanding of the differences between the reader reads too slowly to remember the book and the movie, which can lead to what was written before. Slow reading also quite an interesting discussion. In class, impedes comprehension because it can students are encouraged to use English overload visual system and short-term unless it is too difficult to express their memory (Smith, 1978). ideas, in which case we use Japanese, but Aware of these research findings and this usually happens only three times at experience, I began teaching an English most in a semester. reading course based on Japanese literature In addition to the Japanese literature with the expectation that the familiar book used in class, students are assigned a contexts would assist students in guessing book report. Each student chooses one book the meaning of words and help them to about Japan written in English, and writes a understand the story. When they 3-page report. The book can be on anything understand, they can be interested in the related to Japan such as Japanese history, story and thus read more, and as a result, people, culture, customs, as well as they can improve their reading skills. People literature. Based on the written report, they can improve their reading by reading give an oral presentation in class. (Smith, 1978). Advantages and Disadvantages Course Organization Class size can be one of the important A particular work in Japanese literature factors for this type of course. It works best translated into English was chosen for use in with a small class of around 12; very small a one-semester class, and divided into 10 or groups of 2 to 5 students can be boring as 11 sections. Usually each section has from 10 students tend to agree with each other quite to 15 pages depending on the length of the often. When teachers have bigger reading book, and I make about 5 study questions classes of 50, or even 100, it takes too long to for each part. Different types of questions check the written answers. If, on the other are included, so that students can practice hand, students can choose from a number of reading skills such as skimming, scanning, questions, get into groups according to 76 In the Classroom those questions, and report back to the class, understand the meaning, and as mentioned it could be possible to conduct this type of above, it can set them on the right track course (Willis, 1993). For a mixed linguistic when they misunderstand. Interactions level class, the teacher can write different among students can also be quite beneficial. level questions, and students can choose the Usually, the students need a lot of guidance questions (Grellet, 1981); then, follow the and encouragement from the teacher to same procedure as above. carry on a discussion, but sometimes, they Study questions can help students to can keep going by themselves very well. comprehend and practice reading skills. The When the teacher becomes one of the reason why I started to give such questions participants in the discussion and only gives at first was to make sure the students cover help when absolutely necessary, it is ideal. the reading assignments, but I have realized My personal aim is to have the students feel that there are some other advantages. First free to agree and disagree with each other of all, questions can make the students during discussions. In my experience, a few predict and look for answers. Readers ask years ago, one of the most shy students specific questions, and comprehension spoke up against another student’s idea by involves finding the answers to those saying, “Well, I do not think so.” It was questions (Smith, 1978). Secondly, by toward the end of the course, and she had checking the answers students have written, not spoken up except for a few words before the teacher can check for comprehension, then, even with much encouragement, so it and if there are some misunderstandings, was a wonderful accomplishment. they can be clarified by discussing them in The knowledge of Japanese culture can class. In addition, students who have good help students to comprehend the story, writing skills can demonstrate although they sometimes need a lot of help understanding even if they are not very in connecting their knowledge to the story. It fluent. Some shy students can also receive is also quite difficult for students to express credit for their written work, and it is their knowledge when supporting their possible that they will speak up in class if opinions and ideas. When students given a lot of encouragement written by the understand the content, they can feel teacher in their notebooks. Finally the study interested in it. It can be hard to understand questions can become an impetus for the implications and symbolism, but when discussion. Japanese students often feel they understand, they feel amused and more secure when they have something excited. In class, when some of them written in front of them before they speak understand and others do not, the former up. students usually start to explain to the latter. The length of assignments can be Toward the end of the course, when there problematic. Students often complain that are about one or two more sections left, reading 15 pages is too long. Even if I tell many of them go ahead and finish the book. them that they do not have to check the The fact that they can not wait to receive the meaning of every single unknown word, study questions on those parts reflects their they usually want to find out the meaning in interest in the story. a bilingual dictionary. Some students make a vocabulary list in Japanese. The use of a Comments from Students bilingual dictionary can hinder the According to the questionnaires I have comprehension, and students can collect the been giving after each course, many words but lose the meaning (Coady 1979). students have responded that they feel very Guessing from context is very important, satisfied when they speak during discussion but students are afraid of guessing time. Some of them mention the reason is incorrectly Japanese students have often because of the class size. Another reason is been trained to translate word by word that they have the study questions which accurately. If longer passages are assigned to they can use and thus feel secure in read, it may prevent them from checking all discussion. To the question of whether they the words they do not know even though it are satisfied with what they did in class, might mean they complain more. about 95% of the students responded “yes,“ The discussion can help students to 5%, “I do not know,” and none of them 77 On JALT96: Crossing Borders chose “no.” In addition, they commented quite a variety of books are being used, but that they were able to understand the story the works by female authors such as better because of the discussion in class. Sawako Ariyoshi and Fumiko Enchi are Students’ feedback indicates a sense of especially popular (see Appendix 2). Charles accomplishment after completing the E. Tuttle Company also gave some titles (see course. They say that they would like to Appendix 2). praise themselves for their hard work. Furthermore, they feel very satisfied after Conclusion finishing two books written in English in It might be rather awkward for one semester, although all of them have Japanese students to read some works of expressed that it was very difficult. Japanese literature in English, but because Some of them have mentioned that they they know about Japan and Japanese did not know Japanese literature could be so people, they already know or can guess how interesting until they took this class. They some characters in the story feel, and they say that a story can have a lot of symbolism become more interested in the story. When and implications, and it is very interesting to they are interested, they may want to read understand them although it can be very more, and as a result, their reading skills difficult. There was one interesting comment will improve. It is also very important that from several students who must have the teacher is interested in the material she compared the story in English and Japanese. or he is using in a teading class. The lack of They realized the difference between the interest can easily influence the students in expressions in the two languages, and they class (Donan, 1996). The teacher’s mentioned that in English the phrases and excitement can transfer to the students; it is words tended to be clearer and simpler, hoped that they will become excited, and while Japanese expressions were indirect thus more involved in the story and and vague. discussion. Students also expressed the difficulties of the course. They said that it took too long References to complete the assignments. They Brumfit, C. J. & Carter, R. A. (Eds). (1986). commented that the vocabulary and Literature and Language Teaching. Oxford: grammar were quite difficult, and that it Oxford University Press. was hard to guess the meaning from the Carrell, P. L. (1987). Content and formal context. As mentioned earlier, this problem schemata in ESL reading. TESOL Quarterly, 21(3), 461-481. needs to be solved, so that the students can Chen, H-C. & Graves, M. F. (1995). Effects of practice prediction, checking, and previewing and providing background confirmation which are essential parts of knowledge on Taiwanese college reading skills. students’ comprehension of American short stories. TESOL Quarterly, 29(4), Book Choice 663-686. It is important to choose a book Clarke, M. A. & Silberstein, S. (1979). students can be interested in. If the material Toward a realization of principles in the chosen is meaningful and enjoyable for the ESL reading class. In R. Mackay, B. students, reading can be more beneficial Barkman, & R. R. Jordan (Eds.), Reading (Collie and Slater, 1987). There are several in a Second Language: Hypotheses, works which my students have chosen for Organization, and Practice (pp. 48-65). Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House their book reports and mentioned as being Publishers. very interesting (see Appendix 1). Some of Coady, J. (1979). A psycholinguistic model of them have prepared very good visual aids the ESL reader. In R. Mackay, B. such as pictures and charts, to explain the Barkman, & R.R. Jordan (Eds.), Reading story for their presentations in class. in a Second Language: Hypotheses, I also asked two publishers who Organization, and Practice (pp. 5-12). distribute Japanese literature books Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House translated into English about the books that Publishers. have been used in classes recently. Collie, J. & Slater, S. (1987). Literature in the Kodansha International responded that language classroom: a resource book of ideas 78 In the Classroom and activities. Cambridge: Cambridge Miyamoto, Teru. (19xx). River of fireflies University Press. [Hotaru-gawa] R. F. McCarthy, Trans.). Donan, L. (1996). Literature? Oral English? Tokyo: Kodansha International. or Both? In G. van Troyer, S. Cornwell, (Original work ublished 19xx). & H. Morikawa (Eds.), On JALT 95: Miyazawa, Kenji. (19xx). Matasaburo: The Curriculum & Evaluation (pp. 223-225). wind imp. [Kaze no Matasaburol (J. Bester, Tokyo: The Japan Association for Trans.). Tokyo: Kodansha Language Teaching. International. (Original work published Eskey, D. (1990). Second language reading 19xx). for the ’90s. The Language Teacher 14(9), Natsume, Soseki. (19xx). Botchan (A. Turnes, 23-25. Trans.). Tokyo: Kodansha International. Grabe, W. (1991). Current developments in (Original work published 19xx). second language reading research. Shiina, Makoto. (19xx). My boy [Gaku TESOL Quarterly 25(3), 375-406. monogatari] (F. Schodt, Trans.). Tokyo: Grellet, F. (1981). Developing reading skills: A Kodansha International. (Original work practical guide to reading comprehension published 19xx). exercises. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Appendix 2: Japanese Literature in Gunderson, L. (1991). ESL literacy instruction: Translation A guidebook to theory and practice. New Ariyoshi, Sawako. (19xx). The doctor’s wife Jersey: Prentice Hall Regents. [Hanaoka Seishu no tsuma] (W. Hironaka Hudson, T. (1991). A content comprehension & A. S. Kostant, Trans.). Tokyo: approach to reading English for science Kodansha International. (Original work and technology. TESOL Quarterly, 25(l), published 19xx). 77-104. Ariyoshi, Sawako. (19xx). The Kabuki dancer Hughes, J. (1992). Reading in Ll and L2: [lzumono Okuni] (J. R. Brandon, Trans). Reading is understanding meaning. The Tokyo: Kodansha International. Language Teacher 16(6), 17-19. (Original work published 19xx). Isenberg, N. (1990). Literary competence: the Ariyoshi, Sawako. (19xx). The River Ki [Ki no EFL reader and the role of the teacher. kawa] (M. Tahara, Trans.). Tokyo: ELT Journal 44(3), 181-190. Kodansha International. (Original work Lazar, G. (1990). Using novel in the published 19xx). language-learning classroom. ELT Ariyoshi, Sawako. (19xx). The twilight years Journal 44,(3), 204-214. [Kokotsu no hito] (M. Tahara, Trans). Silberstein, S. (1994). Techniques and resources Tokyo: Kodansha International. in teaching reading. New York: Oxford (Original work published 19xx). University Press. Enchi, Fumiko. (19xx). The waiting years Smith, F. (1978). Reading. Cambridge: [Onna zaka] (J. Bester, Trans.). Tokyo: Cambridge University Press. Kodansha International. (Original work Wallace, C. (1992). Reading. Oxford: Oxford published 19xx). University Press. Hearn, Lafcadio. (19xx). Kwaidan:stones and Willis, M. (1993). What is the moral of the studies of strange things [Kaidanl (U. N. story? Teaching literature to English Known, Trans.). Boston: Charles E. majors. In P. Wadden (Ed.): A handbook Tuttle. (Original work published 19xx). for teaching English at Japanese college and Kawabata, Yasunari. (19xx). Snow country universities. (pp. 91-98). New York: [Yukiguni] (E. G. Seidensticker, Trans.). Oxford University Press. Boston: Charles E. Tuttle. (Original work published 19xx). Appendix 1: Texts Chosen by Mori, Ogai. (19xx). The wild geese (S. Students Goldstein and K. Ochiai, Trans.). Dazai, Osamu. (19xx). No longer Boston: Charles E. Tuttle. (Original human [Ningen shikkakul (D. Keene, work published 19xx). Trans.). Boston: Charles E. Tuttle Soseki, Natsume. (19xx). Botchan (U. Sasaki, Company. (Original work published Trans.). Boston: Charles E. Tuttle. 1 9xx). (Original work published 19xx). Inoue, Yasushi. (19xx). The hunting gun [Ryo Soseki, Natsume.Kokoro (19xx). (E. ju] (S. Yokoo and S. Goldstein, Trans.). McClellan, Trans.). Boston: Charles E. Boston: Charles E. Tuttle Company. Tuttle. (Original work published 19xx). (Original work published 19xx). . 79 On JALT96: Crossing Borders FL Reading and Multi-media: Psycholinguistic Views Syuhei Kadota Kwansei Gakuin University Masao Tada Osaka International University for Women Yuko Shimizu Kinki University Shinji Kimura Kwansei Gakuin University Overall summary abilities in listening, as well as their reading This colloquium focuses on the roles of efficiency and strategies. phonological coding in silent reading and It is claimed that phonology plays a examines how the phonological processor, part in incorporating both reading and together with syntactic and semantic listening in a unified framework and thus in pmcessors, provide clues to theorize on the justifying the multi-media presentation of relationship between reading and speech, phonological and textual materials in EFL and leads to the realization of the multi- learning. Shinji Kimura reports on his own media nature of human linguistic work on the effect of such presentation on processing. comprehension and learning, and suggests First, the relevance and role of the possible implications of the phonology is assessed by Syuhei Kadota psycholinguistic research to future CAI through (a) surveying past studies on the systems for EFL reading. cognitive role of phonological coding, and (b) presenting a tentative, multi-dimensional Syuhei Kadota: How phonology model of silent reading, an interactive contributes to silent reading: A model stressing the relationship between theoretical framework analytic processors and holistic image Introduction processors. This report is an attempt to assess the Concerning the issue of processing hypothetical roles of phonology in EFL units in reading, Masao Tada summarizes reading comprehension and then to indicate the previous findings on the effects of one possible explanation as to the recognition of processing units, and reports psycholinguistic overlap between reading that preorganized chunked texts and listening in EFL significantly facilitate reading comprehension for both proficient and non- Phonological coding and silent reading proficient learners in Japan. A review of past studies analyzing It is assumed that there are some EMG amplitudes, letter-search data, the interesting characteristics of reading effect of articulatory suppression, brain- behaviors for Japanese college students. imaging during silent reading, etc. Yuko Shimizu reports that her classroom unanimously reveals that phonological research promotes effective reading, and coding, which ranges from physiologically concludes that the instruction positively detectable inner articulation to implicit influenced the learners’ comprehension In the Classroom auditory image, is activated in the (1987) conducted a preliminary study as to processing of English and Japanese the effect of irregular rhythmic beats, sentences (See Kadota, 1987 for the survey compared with isochronous beats, on of discourse-level studies). reading comprehension, and suggests that Concerning the role of phonology in the resultant comprehension loss may be silent reading, two models are so far due to the supposed incompatibility proposed: (a) a lexical access model (i.e. between the irregular beats given and the phonological representation must be fully rhythmic awareness possibly aroused by established before semantic processing takes phonological coding and innate human place) and (b) an integrative model (i.e. motor rhythm. Thus it seems possible to phonology plays a part in segmenting input argue that phonological coding in silent words into processing chunks and is thus reading does provide readers with prosodic concerned with the phonological loop awareness of a printed sentence, and that system in Baddeley’s WM [working such clues as a sentence rhythmic pattern memory]). may play a role in segmenting words into In a reaction-time experiment on word- phrase-like chunks. level recognition, Kadota (forthcoming) empirically shows that suppressing Concluding remarks: The possible phonological awareness does impair access relationship between rending and listening to phonological representation of the words, Now it is possible to offer two tentative but the access to word meaning as well as its explanations of the relationship between lexical category is in principle possible reading and listening. One explanation is a without phonological activation. commonly held view: there is much However, my own earlier works (e.g. psycholinguistic parallelism between the Kadota, 1982) suggest that EFL readers, higher-order stages of the two skills; in the when given an articulatory suppression task central WM stage, both listening and while reading a portion of English text, reading involve a highly active prediction- exhibit lower comprehension measured by a testing task in which people process post-reading Q & A test. The result indicates linguistic input by constructing chunks and that the phonology can be activated in by activating various information resources processing written English discourse. Thus like formal and content schemata. The other the findings, in general, seem to provide explanation is the view suggested in this positive evidence for the above integrative report: listening is, as it were, incorporated model of phonological coding. in the process of reading as its intrinsic A tentative role of phonology in formulating component through phonological coding; comprehension units there might be a common phonological basis It is said that a visual input which is which directly unites the two briefly held as an unprocessed iconic comprehension skills. sensory pattern needs to be further transmitted to WM, in which the input is Masao Tada: The effects of text assumed to be chunked into some preorganization on college level comprehension units. According to Kadota and Tada (1992), there is ample evidence Japanese EFL learners’ reading which proves that a constituent, such as a comprehension and speed phrase, roughly corresponds to the units of Findings from existing studies with processing in reading English text. In regard to the effects of text preorganization formulating a phrase-like chunk, readers are (chunked text) on reading comprehension supposed to employ a variety of show that text preorganization might not information resources (i.e. syntactic, always facilitate reading comprehension. semantic, phonological). Among several The report focuses on the effects of pm- phonological variables, the prosodic organized (i. e. chunked) texts on reading configuration of a sentence seems to be a comprehension and speed for university/ highly plausible resource to be employed by college English learners in Japan. The many readers in constructing results from a series of experimental studies comprehension chunks. In fact, Kadota conducted by the researcher are compared in order to clarify (a) whether preorganized 81 On JALT96: Crossing Borders texts (phrase-cued texts) affect the language The results that there was a favorable learners’ processing of written texts, and (b) effect for chunked format text on the maze whether training using preorganized text in task score looks contradictory in relation to computer and traditional modes affects the other results. However, the dependent reading comprehension. More specifically, variable in the maze task experiment is a the experiments examined the following measure for processing the word class form and comprehension at the same time, while issues: (a) the effects of different styles of the dependent variable for the other presentation of texts (chunk by chunk vs. experiments were a measure for reading word by word) by means of computer on comprehension. Thus, differences in reading comprehension; (b) the effects of measurement are considered to be a possible different styles of presentation of texts source of different results. (chunked vs. line by line) by means of The answer to the question of whether computer on free recall; (c) the effects of the training using preorganized text different styles of preorganization of paper facilitates reading comprehension is text (chunked vs. traditional) on reading positive. An eight week computer assisted comprehension for good readers and poor speed reading training period had a readers ; (d) the effects of different styles of statistically significant effect on reading rate pre-organization of paper text (chunked vs. and comprehension scores after training. This important finding offers empirical traditional) on maze task score; and (e) the support for the use of computer as a effects of computer assisted speed reading pedagogical tool for training in English training on reading speed and reading. The possible explanation for the comprehension. advantageous effects of computer training is The results show that the answer to the as follows: in the computer presentation question of whether presenting texts in used in the present study, the learners chunks facilitates reading comprehension eventually got used to the speed of and rate is both yes and no: it was shown presentation of the texts. Chunk by chunk that for computer presentation, the chunk presentation of the texts may have matched by chunk presentation has an advantage the processing unit size which the learners over the word by word presentation and the needed to develop in order to comprehend line by line presentation when the the texts more efficiently than they had been comprehension was measured by recall. before the training. It might be possible that the processing However, in the paper presentation there units for reading are similar to the was no advantageous effect found for text processing units for listening for learners at manipulation for either high- or low- certain levels of proficiency. This is related proficiency learners. Moreover, the results to another area of interest: that is, the from the maze task score shows that there transfer of reading training using chunked was a favorable effect for chunked format text to listening comprehension. text. In summary, the results suggest that There are some possible explanations computer presentation of preorganized text for the statistically significant effect of text has a positive effect on reading pre-organization under computer comprehension and rate, and training using presentation conditions as opposed to the computer facilitates development of reading lack of such effect under paper presentation ability. conditions. It is hypothesized that when the passage was presented on a computer Yuko Shimizu: The effects of a screen, the readers were more able to reading instruction exercise on perceive and process chunks than when it comprehension strategies and was presented on a sheet of paper, as these language abilities of college students chunks were presented one by one as time in Japan passed. The cues on paper, on the other Introduction hand, were less evident to the readers, and it Although findings in contemporary is not certain that readers’ eye fixations were research in L2 reading have been integrated regulated by such chunks. It may be that into practice in English classrooms in computer presentation forced eye fixation Japanese colleges, favorable results have not on each chunk more effectively than the paper presentation did. necessarily been observed in learners’ performance. Carrel1 (1988) points out that 82 In the Classroom some of the causes rendering reading towards reading in English. difficult come from a misconception of reading and lack of linguistic and reading Results skills. As one way to overcome those 1. Positive attitudinal changes regarding disadvantages, a speed reading exercise was reading conducted in a regular classroom situation A strong tendency of translation into and it was concluded that the exercise Japanese, slow reading for understanding, positively influenced the learners’ listening and excessive use of a dictionary were and reading abilities, significantly weakened. Also, students reading speed, and attitudes towards began to take more advantage of guessing, reading in English. previewing, scanning and text organization. 2. Positive effects on English proficiency The study Scores in reading and listening tests were The purpose of the study was to significantly increased after the exercise, examine the effects of a speed reading especially for listening. No significant gain, exercise given to Japanese students at the however, was observed in the grammar test. college level. The study attempted to 3. Improvement in reading speed and examine the following aspects: performance on the subtests Fast readers* improved their reading speed 1. attitudinal changes toward reading dramatically from 100 to 122 WPM. They after the exercise began to use previewing and scanning more 2. the effects on learners’ performance actively, which quickened their reading in the following subtests: grammar, speed. Slow readers, on the other hand, did reading, and listening not show a significantly improved 3. the relationship of reading speed and performance in their WPM. They still performance on the subtests. showed a strong attachment to translation into Japanese. However, their cloze scores Subjects in this study were 137 first- were significantly higher at the level of .01. year college students. Sixty-nine students The difference between the fast and were assigned as a control group and sixty- slow readers was not significant in eight as an experimental group. reading and listening performance. This indicated that reading speed was not a The students in the experimental group reliable indicator. However, grammar scores were encouraged to read an approximately on the post test significantly distinguished 700-word passage rapidly They were the two readers at a level of .0053. Lack of required to record the time they took to read grammatical competence was a linguistic the passage as soon as they finished the first disadvantage and prevented the slow reading. Immediately after that, they were readers from increasing their reading speed. asked to answer ten true-false type * Using the WPM score measured at the end comprehension questions without referring of the exercise, the top 25 students were back to the passage. The exercise was given assigned as the fast readers and the bottom 15 times; once a week, with a 2-month 25 as the slow readers. summer recess. The results were based on the following Conclusion data: The present study has attempted to 1. English subtests: grammar, multiple- examine the effects of a speed choice type cloze test, and the JACET reading exercise on students’ attitudes Intermediate Listening toward reading and their English ability As Comprehension Test. a by-product of the exercise, the students The same subtests were used for both were given the benefits of becoming active pre- and post tests: readers, utilizing reading skills. Also, the 2. Words Per Minute measured in April exercise contributed to improving learners’ and January. reading and listening abilities and reading 3. Questionnaire written in Japanese (9 speed. However, the slow readers did not items) concerning general attitudes show an increase in their WPM. They still On JALT96: Crossing Borders depended on translation and did not utilize passage is slow or fast, a reader may give up as many reading skills as the fast readers, reading at his/her own pace and try to read which prevented them from increasing their the corresponding part of the passage he/ reading speed. One element which she hears. If the recording is slow and the distinguished the slow and fast readers in total reading time is limited, he/she is the present study was their grammatical forced to spend more time than he/she ability. Grammar competence is possibly needs for reading, and loses time for working as a latent ability, which facilitates reveiwing the passage. This results in the acquisition of reading skills and the weaker comprehension. increase of reading speed. 3. Phonological coding while reading is considered to play a significant role in the Shinji Kimura: Multimedia: a comprehension of the passage (Kadota psycholinguistic view 1987). If the own-coding (which naturally Although a great deal of research has occurs during silent reading) and outside- been conducted to investigate the effect of coding (while listening to recorded integrated presentation of information passages) mismatch, outside-coding can (textual, phonological, pictorial and interfere with comprehension. graphical) on comprehension (e.g. A total of 312 Japanese EFL learners at Baransford &Johnson, 1972; Hirose & university level participated in three Kamei, 1993; Levie & Lentz, 1982; Omaggio experiments with different reading speed 1979), no research has ever clarified the role and passage difficulty. Unpaired t-tests of phonological input in second language revealed that there was no statistically reading comprehension. Reading while significant difference between listening vs. listening, which has been reported to be non-listening, regardless of reading speed effective for problematic learners in the first and passage difficulty (t=-.381, df=358, language classroom (Carbo 1978; Chomsky p=.704), (t=.492, df=358, p=.623), (t=-.285, 1976; Gamby 1983), is also a popular activity df=162, p=.776), (t=.291, df=98, p=.772), in both English as a foreign/second (t=.571, df=158, p=.569). language classrooms, and computer assisted X2 tests revealed that the more difficult multimedia teaching materials. The the passages were, or the faster the reading interesting fact is that no one knows if such speed was, the more subjects preferred the integrated input is potentially facilitative, or condition with phonological input (X2=4.66, at least harmless, for second language df=2, p=.O97). The results of the study reading comprehension. suggest that listening while reading neither This study investigated the effect of harms nor facilitates reading activities. integrated input, textual and phonological, on foreign language reading comprehension References by comparing reading comprehension test Bransford, J. D., &Johnson, M. (1972). scores obtained under two conditions, one Contextual prerequisites for tested while listening to recorded passages understanding: Some investigation of and the other without such an aid. In comprehension and recall. Journal of addition to the tests, the subjects were asked Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 11, about which condition they preferred to 717-726. read under. Carbo, M. (1978). Teaching reading with A negative effect of listening on reading talking books. The Reading Teacher, 32, was hypothesized, with the following 267-273. reasons: Carrell, P, Devine, J., & Eskey, D. (1988). 1. The part of a passage which a reader Interactive Approaches to Second Language wants to read does not always correspond Reading. Cambridge: Cambridge with the part they hear from the recorded University Press tape. It probably becomes difficult if the Chomsky, C. (1976). After Decoding: What? reading speed of the recorded passage is Language Arts, 53,288-296. much slower or faster than his/her own Gamby, G. (1983). Talking books and taped desireable reading speed. books: Materials for instruction. The 2. When the speed of the recorded Reading Teacher, 36,366-369. In the Classroom Kadota, S., and Tada, M. (1992). Processing comprehension. Journal of Assumption units in reading English and Japanese Junior College, 9,49-70. [Eibun oyobi Nihonbun no Dokkai to Levie, W. H., & Lentz, R. (1982). Effects of Shori Tan-i]. Shakaikagaku Kenkyu text illustrations: A review of research. Nenpou, 22,137-153. Educational Communication and Kadota, S. (1987). The role of prosody in Technology Journal, 30 (4), 195-232. silent reading. Language Sciences, 9 (2), Omaggio, A. C.(1979). Pictures and second 185-206. language comprehension: Do they Kadota, S. (1982). Some psycholinguistic help? Foreign Language Annals, 12 (2), experiments on the process of reading 107-116. Vocabulary Building with Student-Selected Words Robin Nagano Nagaoka University of Technology without it being deliberately recycled in Introduction class? Learners at the intermediate level and The amount of exposure required to above normally come to the classroom with learn a word seems likely to vary according varied sets of vocabulary. This is due not to factors such as its visual evocativeness, only to variation in previous instruction and learner interest, and its frequency or exposure, but also to individual interests saliency (Brown, 1993, found that salience and needs. This situation creates some from focus seemed to be less of a factor than practical problems for explicit vocabulary salience from what the learners have teaching, as it can be difficult to identify experienced as a gap in their knowledge). words that will be both new and useful to One method of increasing salience is most students. What suits one will not be of allowing students to choose the words they use to another; this contributes to problems wish to learn, which Swaffer found also of motivation. The easiest solution is for improved the rate of retention (1988, cited in each student to select words that he feels Oxford and Scarcella, 1994). will be of use to him, from a context that fits Brown and Payne (1994, cited in Hatch his own interests and needs. However, this and Brown, 1995) have identified five in turn creates difficulties in the classroom. essential steps in vocabulary learning, the How can the teacher ensure that the first of which is encountering the word. This vocabulary is learned, and give credit for it, may, of course, occur either inside or outside without being required to create a different of the classroom, and the number of new test for each student? Will the students pay words encountered may vary according to attention to more than the translated whether a student seeks out opportunities meaning of the word? Will they bother to for contact with the language, particularly search for the additional information when it is being learned as a foreign required in order to learn a word well language. enough to use it? Will they encounter it The second of Blown and Payne’s five often enough to embed it in memory steps, getting the word form, is one that 85 On JALT96: Crossing Borders seems to cause problems for L2 students in activities which students can use on their many ways. One is that it takes longer to own to aid acquisition include focusing identify or decipher words, as is shown by attention on the grammatical form and other the longer visual fixation time on each word words in the family; semantic mapping to displayed by second language learners (see help with creating mental linkages; Haynes, 1993). Another difficulty definitions both in Ll and L2 (from a experienced is faulty deciphering of words learner’s.dictionary); example sentences; due to graphemic or phonemic mismatches; drawing a picture or series of pictures of the these misunderstandings tend to persist word; and collecting collocations and even if there is a conflict with the context syntactic information for grammatical use. (Haynes, 1993). The spelling and The keyword method has frequently been pronunciation of the word are items that reported to be effective (e.g. Brown and must be established before progressing to Perry, 1991; Ellis and Beaton, 1993). the next step. In using the word, feedback from the Getting the word meaning is likely to success (or otherwise) of the word in that require an accumulation of information, situation will most likely be added to the which may or may not include dictionary- lexical entry. However, failure to reach the type definitions. Studies have shown that final step does not mean that the word has vocabulary instruction that simply provides not been learned. Hatch and Brown (1995) a definition has little if no efTect on reading point out that words may be available for comprehension (see Nagy and Herman, use but that the learner chooses not to use 1987). Classroom instruction would have to them, because of awareness of register or be rich indeed to supply enough associations that the learner does not wish information to take this step all at once. to convey. In addition, active use of the Repetition and revision would seem to be word may not be an objective or required, as the amount of input increases requirement in the case of receptive and guesses can be rejected or confirmed. knowledge. While the full complement of Although Brown and Payne present the information on syntactic restrictions, five steps consecutively, it would seem that register, or collocations may not be sufficient consolidating word form and meaning in for actual use, an understanding of the word memory must be intertwined with the steps in context may still be possible. Crow and above and below; as information is added Quigley (1985) explored one method through finding additional meanings, or as utilizing a semantic field approach to help restrictions to its use are found, alterations students gain a larger receptive vocabulary will take place in the lexical entry in the for their academic reading needs. memory. Lexical entries, while still under investigation, are presumed to contain (or A vocabulary card & quiz system have links to) information on form, The following system was developed as meaning, syntax, associations, collocations, one possible way to assist students in semantic categories, register - in short, all identifying the various aspects of words and of the information required to interpret and making connections. It allows students to use the word. Oxford identifies major select their own vocabulary words and memory strategies as: creating mental create detailed vocabulary cards focused on linkages; applying images and sounds; them, at the same time that it permits the reviewing well; and employing action. teacher a means of evaluation. These are applied for storage in memory, but also play a role in retrieval (1990, p. 58). The cards Oxford and Scarcella (1994) divide Students are required to produce three vocabulary learning activities into vocabulary cards a week, in the style shown decontextualized (word lists, flashcards, in Figure 1. The student may choose the dictionary look-up), partially contextualized words freely, but it is recommended that (such as visual and aural imagery, the they be taken from some source besides the keyword method, physical response, and dictionary, such as class reading materials, semantic mapping), and fully other English classes, or vocabulary related contextualized activities. Some of the to a hobby or field of study. Items to be 86 In the Classroom filled in on the front of the card are: the The quizzes target word; its pronunciation; its part of Pairs of students conduct quizzes, speech and variations of other parts of using the sheet shown in Figure 2. They speech; related words or phrases, to include write their words in the table (three new similar and opposite words if applicable ones and two previous low-scoring words), (semantic categories and associations); a and exchange the quiz sheet and their cards picture representing the word; and “other with their partner. They then take turns information”, which could include common quizzing each other on their words within collocations, syntax, notes on register, etc. the time given (usually 20-25 minutes). One Items to be filled in on the back of the card point is given for each response, so that are: L1 meaning, L2 definition (from a three points would be obtained if three learner’s dictionary, if possible), an example different related words were given. Partners sentence (preferably from the original check answers on the cards, and are source), and for management, the date permitted to use their own judgement for made, dates reviewed, and the source of the acceptability. The total score is then written word. Students reported spending between on a sheet submitted to the teacher each 5 and 50 minutes on making a card, with the week. Typical scores ranged from 12 to 15 typical student spending 10-15 minutes per points per word. Ideally, the quiz itself card. FIGURE 1 Layout of Vocabulary Cards and Sample (front) SAMPLE THE WORD related words & opposites pronuncia- & similar words tion a picture of the word other forms other informahon (words used with the word, formal or casual, grammar, etc) , (back) meaning definition in English in Japanese (learner’s dictionary is best) FIGURE 2 Vocabulary Quiz Sheet Date: Partner: Total score: On JALT96: Crossing Borders would be conducted in the target language, showed that students were generally for example, “What does the word mean?“, satisfied with the system, and felt that it was but most pairs either used shortcuts useful for learning new words (Figure 3). (“Meaning.“) or their Ll. Students were asked to rate each item on the card on a 5-point scale for its usefulness to Possible variations: them in learning the target word (Figure 4). 1. When quizzing, the partner It is no surprise that L1 meaning is randomly chooses a card and reads considered most useful, but it is the English definition of the word. encouraging to see the high ranking given to Three points are given for successful related words, for instance. While it is identification of the target word. The unclear whether mapping of related words rest of the quiz continues as usual. is a new strategy to the students, it seems 2. Small groups select appropriate clear that it is or has become a valued one. words from a class-related source. All Several students commented that this item members contribute related words. helped them to become familiar with new Each member makes cards for some words other than the target word. words and photocopies them before Unfortunately, there is no data available the next class. This adds a step, but concerning the attitudes of students prior to also adds discussion on the best working with the system. words to include. 3. With speed quizzes, the student Usefulness of Various Items should name, for instance, two Although there was general agreement related words for as many cards as on most items, responses were divided on possible within the time limit (5-10 the picture, which the majority of students minutes). judged as being of no use, while others found it very useful (very likely a reflection Evaluation of the system of personal learning styles). Predictably, The card and quiz system was used in students who utilized the other information three English classes in a Japanese national section more actively rated it as more useful. university, with a total of 113 students, for a Although L2 definition is ranked as of period of 10 to 25 weeks, Questionnaires FIGURE 3 Selected Student Comments FIGURE 4 Student Evaluation of the Usefulness of Various Items *Vocab card%* 0 * similarQopposite OlkHmJqea ; IruT u) \ 4.&sx&t%a, jP ronunciatlon i3%%ieaoa ;: t7FT??i6@T54~~li#Ti% 5 I other forms 5 tC 3 o (Through making the ,” ’ vocabulary cards and looking up similar .Z / related words and opposite words, I can see the relationship between words, so I think L” i it’s a good method.) m 1other information *%i*~~~~~~wBattr t 3 C~Ez~ TL~a, (It has proven useful to me when reading research papers and English textbooks.) *~~ol,w~~c~afhk~~~x1;~ C& 4%ifi7SQ&6 Mi3. (If YOU pick not useful +------+ very useful words that fit your level, I think your degree of usefulness vocabulary will increase.) In the Classroom relatively little use, it would be interesting References to examine this rating for any changes after Brown, C. (1993). Factors affecting the introducing variation (1) above. acquisition of vocabulary: Frequency Perhaps the most important benefit of and saliency of words. In T. Huckin, M. this system is that students come to realize Haynes, and J. Coady (Eds.), Second that just knowing the Ll translation of a language reading and vocabulary learning word is not sufficient (though clearly very (pp. 263-286). Norwood, N.J.: Ablex. useful). Side benefits include being exposed Brown, C., and Payne, M. (1994, March). to numerous non-target words, especially in Five essential steps of processes in the related words section and through vocabulary learning. Paper presented at contact with their quiz partner’s words. the TESOL Convention, Baltimore, Md. Brown, T., and Perry, F. (1991). A Students also become more comfortable in comparison of three learning strategies using monolingual dictionaries. Another for ESL vocabulary acquisition. TESOL important point is that students are Quarterly, 24, 4, 655-670. exercising initiative in choosing their own Crow, J., and Quigley, J. (1985). A semantic words. This may prompt them to keep their field approach to passive vocabulary eyes open for new words, and encourage acquisition for reading com rehension. them to consider what words are worth TESOL Quarterly, 19, 3, 497-513. learning (or worth spending the time for Ellis, N., and A. Beaton. (1993). creating a card). In addition, the teacher is Psycholinguistic determinants of receiving a score which can be used for foreign language vocabulary learning. assessment. Language Learning, 43, 4, 559-617. There are some difficulties remaining. Hatch, E., and Brown, C. (1995). Vocabulary, The largest is that words chosen are semantics, and language education. Cambridge: Cambridge University sometimes rather obscure. These are almost Press. invariably found in a bilingual dictionary, Haynes, M. (1993). Patterns and perils of either during a random search or as a guessing in second language reading. translation of a certain word. Students need In T. Huckin, M. Haynes, and J. Coady to be encouraged to take words from use in (Eds.), Second language reading and context, and some training in recognizing vocabulary learning (pp. 46-64). important words would probably help them Norwood, N.J.: Ablex. make more appropriate choices. In Nagy, W., and Herman, P. (1987). Breadth addition, a way of checking pronunciation and depth of vocabulary knowledge: needs to be devised, and a way to further Implications for ac uisition and encourage regular review would be helpful. instruction. In M. McKeown and M. Curtis (Eds), The nature of vocabulary acquisition (pp. 19-36). Hillsdale, N.J.: Conclusion The system explained above requires a Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Oxford, R. (1990). Language learning rather large commitment of time, both in the classroom and in student preparation, and strategies: What every teacher should know. the list of target words will not be a long New York: Newbury House Publishers. one. However, if it can serve as a means of Oxford, R., and Scarcella, R. (1994). Second language vocabulary learning among training students in the various factors that adults: State of the art in vocabulary are involved in learning a word, it can play instruction. System, 22, 2, 231-243. a large and long-term role in vocabulary Schmitt, N. and D. Schmitt. 1995. acquisition. The results of the student questionnaire and observation of students Vocabulary notebooks: theoretical underpinnings and practical sugges- indicate that the system does have a positive effect on student behavior when tions. ELT JournaI, 49 (2), 133-143. Swaffer, J. (1988). Readers, texts, and second approaching the task of learning a new languages: The interactive processes. word. Students who are aware of what is Modern Language Journal, 72, 123-149. useful for them are better able to take on the task of teaching themselves the words they need to know, and have taken several steps Acknowledgment The vocabulary cards introduced here were towards becoming independent learners. based upon the notebook entries described in an article by Schmitt and Schmitt (1995). On JALT’96: Crossing Borders 91 On JALT96: Crossing Borders FE3 1 xcm-w.Ll~5k&fM-~T~J t3 2 ,J\S>J& r,o,f&& ;r;fs‘& )Jl&h B,- ,,\$a& ‘,‘fi& k5&& *k&A 11-1 Ci 81 35 56 47 219 aa 63 3 2zczxa.L~ f3 4 /J\!ZZ& cpid;r& -kCj?& tie), ifi kYb ulan ltt 4Ei 50 10 11 19 90 t%tl< 65 23 1 38 68 I94 wrr 88 50 119 94 351 mm 73 37 1 92 45 247 9-I 138 60 130 113 441 iit 138 60 1 130 113 441 nd261 34.1 B&lJw3 I’< 0.000001 A? I’ 2%St#i=24.8 BEbLw3 P< 0.00005 93 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Create a Writing Environment for Real Beginners Joyce Roth Seian Girls’ Senior High School, Kyoto Writing performs a number of “Not enough time,” is a familiar lament functions that neither a conversation class of language teachers. With all of the nor a grammar lesson can. For one thing it vocabulary and grammar that must be provides students with an opportunity to taught and with all of the mechanical and produce language that is more thoughtful. manipulative drill that needs to be done, Writing allows students to think about what there is precious little time left to teach they want to say, to practice new or difficult writing. But, if teachers look realistically at vocabulary and grammar, to share their own how much language is actually remembered experiences, and to present their ideas and compared to what is taught, all must agree opinions. Of course, these can be done in an that something needs to be done at the oral classroom, but with writing, there is the earlier levels to encourage better retention. added advantage of time - time to ask Relevancy is most certainly a primary factor others for information, time to check in retention, and so writing about their own sources, time to experiment with different experiences and ideas enables students to ways of saying the same thing. There is remember more. Thus, the time wasted time, too, for the teacher to interact with reteaching forgotten vocabulary and every student. Whereas the grammar class grammar is replaced by time more valuably gives opportunity for practice, the writing spent introducing new language. Besides, class gives opportunity to make choices of writing can be done outside of class. words and ideas. Secondly, writing is less Writing gives the students time to think threatening than oral language because about grammar and vocabulary, time to students don’t have to perform in front of reorganize and edit, and time to correct- the class. With the teacher as the primary activities which rarely take place in a typical audience, there is no such thing as a bad language class. idea, a wrong opinion, or a meaningless experience. Finally, writing allows for Beginning a Writing Course differences in ability. Students who learn When a writing course is begun at any fast or who have a better grasp of English or ability level, in junior or senior high, or who have a broader life experience may university, either taught by a native or non- progress faster, writing longer and better native speaker/teacher, two assumptions essays than students who don’t or can’t can be made. The first is that students have write as well. never learned how to write their own These arguments have convinced me essays. Everything the teacher requires of that much more writing should be done by them is new whether it be journal writing, students of all ages, but most teachers 1 have free writing, thoughtful essays, or whatever. talked to say they don’t know how to plan, The second is akin to the first; that is that the teach, assign, check, or grade essays. After students won’t have any idea what the years of teaching writing myself at various teacher is talking about, no matter what the grades and ability levels, I’m more classroom language is. Students are not convinced than ever that writing has value familiar with terminology, such as indent, for language learning and can be topic sentence, organize, revise. Teachers, incorporated into regular English classes. therefore, will have to give opportunities to 94 In the Classroom write that require a minimum of brief and answers, they are afraid and/or hesitant to simple instructions and which then can commit themselves to paper. Several times form a foundation for further instruction. during each class, I remind them that they On the first day of a writing course, the can, in fact, learn to write, that mistakes are teacher should ask for a writing sample. In okay, and that writing is fun. When they my class, on a B4 page with the lines for discover that their friends and other writing, students choose from three titles - teachers are impressed with their writing, “Dogs and Cats,” “Books,” and “My they discover the satisfaction of writing, too. Favorite Place in Kyoto.” After making sure Once the students know they can write, that each student knows she should write more formal instruction begins. Introducing whatever she pleases on only one topic, I the vocabulary necessary for talking about ask all the students to begin and stop them composition is essential, but difficult. Until after fifteen minutes. The second half of the it registers, I try to explain the phrases like B4 page, which has been turned under while ‘topic sentence’ each time I use it and to they write their sample, shows a simple remind them each time they write to use format with a title, margin, indentation, and what I have taught them. We talk about the double spacing. Below that, the students first sentence as one that tells the reader rewrite their first paragraph in cursive what you are going to write about (topic according to the new format and then look sentence). Later we decide that the writer in awe at how much they have improved in can use a couple of sentences before that to just one day. At the end of the course, when catch the reader’s attention. And then we these papers are brought out again, the talk about sentences that stretch and explain students are incredulous about how easy what the writer is writing about (supporting writing has become. sentences). And of course these sentences Initial writing assignments should be have to be in some kind of order that helps based on personal experiences, making it the reader understand what the writer is easy for the students to put already trying to say (organization). After the essay generated ideas onto paper. The first has been written, the writer, with the help of assignment in my class is a letter to me the teacher and friends, can do some introducing themselves, written on rearranging of ideas and adding of more stationery, and with pictures enclosed. The information and examples (revising) (peer second is a paragraph about one event that editing). Once the ideas are down on paper, happened last year, such as graduation day then it is time to look for mistakes (editing). or a school trip. The third is generated from In the early stages of writing, we do not their oral class text, East- West 1 (OUP), spend much time on editing. I find it more lesson 2, which teaches prepositions and valuable to work with ideas with beginning names of furniture. The students draw a writers, and have noticed that their floor plan of their own bedroom and then grammar learning from previous classes describe what is in the room, starting from starts to influence their writing when they the door. Other assignments are given that become more comfortable with writing. In also touch on lessons from their oral text. fact, in second, third and fourth drafts, a One way to build writing confidence is considerable amount of correcting seems to through timed free writing. I tell students be done subconsciously that the flow of ideas is irrelevant and mistakes are of no consequence, and most Organizing the Work students, therefore, seem to lose their fear of Every assignment is printed on a B4 writing. The ‘no eraser’ rule encourages a page. Directions for the assignment and freer flow as it eliminates the need for work-up exercises are there, as well as lines correctness. for doing those exercises and writing the first draft. This work is folded to the inside; What To Teach the student’s name, class number and These early assignments, although assignment title is written in the upper right designed to be easy, are not easy at all. hand corner. Every paper relevant to the Because students are untrained and lack assignment is inserted into this folder. First confidence, and because there are no correct drafts are usually collected on the same day, 95 On JALT96: Crossing Borders but because the ability of the students is so mom information and to use more complex varied, subsequent drafts am turned in at sentences. The grading sheet is stapled to different times. In the early stages, students’ the final essay to show the student where errors are often similar, so I print a list of her weaknesses and strengths lie. No red common pmblems, circle the appropriate marks are put on the essay, leaving it ‘clean’ comment and staple it to the draft. Later, as a souvenir of work well done. when the comments need to be more varied for each student, I write the comments on Conclusion the outside of the folder. I also write the In my presentation at JALT96, I tried to dates that the drafts and final essay are show how time to find information, time to submitted. experiment with language, and time to Final papers in my class have to be practice writing in a positive atmosphere all written in ink using cursive letters and be enhance a student’s overall language double spaced. The double spacing and ink comprehension. Additionally, I tried to is for my benefit-it’s easier on my eyes. demonstrate with student samples and Cursive writing is my personal choice, not comments on how writing promotes one that determines whether a composition enthusiasm for learning and satisfaction for is good or not. It is my way of helping a job well done. Life is filled with events them develop attractive handwriting. and experiences, feelings, thoughts, and Grading varies from paper to paper, ideas that need to be recorded. Conversing depending on what I have emphasized in in English is rewarding; grammar lessons class, and so I make up a grading sheet for am essential. Writing, whether it be a each essay. For early papers, 1 give more journal or essay, however, is a tangible points for format and less for content. Later, record of a student’s progress both in they are graded on the clear use of topic and English and in the development of supporting sentences. I also give points for expression. the length of the essay and for the average sentence length as an incentive to write Preparing Students to Write in their Disciplines Thomas Orr University of Aizu Now, however, as more and more Introduction Japanese schools begin to reevaluate their All good language instruction is goal- writing courses interest in ESP among post- driven. Specific language features are taught secondary schools has increased as to enable learners to accomplish particular educators search for writing instruction that tasks, such as converse appropriately with is more relevant to their students’ specific foreign business clients, make travel academic and professional needs. This reservations, or order a pizza from paper addresses this interest by offering Domino’s. This approach to language writing instructors an intelligent plan for education is frequently called English for developing such a writing program. Specific Purposes (ESP), a protest movement, of sorts, within ELT against Targeting two discourse communities other, less directed, forms of language ESP writing instruction at the post- instruction that have so far failed to produce secondary level is frequently designed to satisfactory results - particularly in Japan. 96 In the Classroom orient writers to two different discourse 7. How will I evaluate program communities: (a) a particular academic success? Pre-/post-testing? TOEFL or discourse community and (b) a vocational or TOEIC? Teacher evaluations by professional discourse community. Roth students? Feedback from other discourse groups are socio-rhetorical instructors who assign English communities of individuals drawn to one writing in their content courses? another by common goals and concepts of 8. What will I improve the next time I appropriate behavior and language. Writing teach this writing course? Order of curriculum planners must presentation? Introduction of another determine if their program should orient genre? their students into one or both of these two possible target communities. Guide for assessing vocational/professional writing needs Needs analysis Usually, preparing language learners to Most successful ESP writing instruction participate successfully in the written begins with a thorough analysis of learner English discourse of their vocation or needs to direct the development of profession is the main concern of most ESP appropriate content and teaching methods. writing instruction. In order to prepare In most college or university situations, the learners for the language tasks that will be following two Needs Analysis Guides required of them in their work, it is useful would be sufficient to assist a writing for an ESP writing instructor to obtain the instructor in assessing student needs. following information: 1. There must be some specific and Guide for assessing academic writing needs accurate information about the culture of the 1. English writing will be required of students target field(s) of study Students my students in what courses? need to know about the primary goals of Introduction to Western Philosophy? their profession, the primary activities that Contemporary American Literature? its members engage in to accomplish these Senior Seminar? goals, and the values and cultural 2. What written English genres will be conventions that govern professional required in these courses? Essay activities. ESP writing instruction will not be exam? Book review? Public speech? motivating nor its purpose properly Technical report? Annotated understood if students do not have general bibliography? knowledge of the normal activities in their 3. What will be valued by course target discipline. This information can be instructors in these genres? provided by professors from the students’ Originality of opinion? Skillful use of subject area(s), by ESP writing professors, or citations? Correct use of punctuation? by both in some sort of cooperative effort. Error-free grammar? Inviting scientists or engineers to class to 4. What information and experience talk about their profession, their work, and must be provided in my English their writing is one effective way to writing course that will enable my accomplish this. students to perform these writing 2. In addition to some general tasks successfully? Rules of knowledge about their field and how punctuation? Strategies of writing fits into the scheme of things, argumentation? Examples of good students need to know about the written citations? English discourse that is uniquely 5. What are the learning preferences of characteristic of their target discipline. This my students? Weekly Grammar should include information on the quizzes? Journal writing? Use of profession’s genres and sub-genres, HTML? audience, purposes, print and electronic 6. How will I evaluate student formats, high-frequency grammatical forms, performance? Holistically evaluated high-frequency vocabulary, mechanics, writing portfolios? Grammar exams? efficient means of writing and revision, 97 On JALT96: Crossing Borders dissemination factors, cultural/professional information, title and subtitling, what taboo, and so forth. A graphical constitutes proof or evidence, level of detail, representation of the genres and their useful vocabulary, etc.), conducting case features, along with many good examples, studies of successful student and/or can be very useful to help students professional writers, analyzing academic understand both linguistic detail as well as and/or disciplinary texts for high frequency rhetorical purpose. vocabulary and grammatical constructions, 3. An ESP writing course must consist and surveying ESP literature for useful of appropriate instructional activities that research. are tailored to the specific language levels and personal characteristics of the learners. ESP writing research and instruction These activities must enable students to at the University of Aizu learn about the writing that is practiced in In order to illustrate ESP writing their discipline as well as enable them to research and instruction, 1 would like to learn how to produce this type of writing. briefly outline some of the research we have Activities that allow students to produce been conducting at the University of Aizu to writing in situations that approximate those create effective ESP writing courses for our of professionals are likely to be more students in the computer sciences. effective. Imitative exercises without rhetorical contexts generally bore young Source of Data writers and don’t give them exposure to all In the first stage of research, the the aspects of writing they will encounter in primary source of data about written their careers. Team teaching with a content English discourse in computer science has professor in the students’ subject area can been our university’s computer faculty of often provide one good solution to this approximately 87 members from 20 different problem. nations. Surveys and short follow-up interviews were conducted with twenty-five ESP Research members of the faculty, detailed case studies How do teachers determine their were conducted with two members of the students’ academic and vocational/ faculty (one native and one non-native professional writing needs? They must English writer), and additional information gather most of the information they need on was gathered through surveys of their own or in cooperation with other professional literature in computer science writing teachers serving the same kind of along with computer-assisted analyses of student population. Information about the English vocabulary and grammatical students’ entry level English, knowledge of constructions appearing most frequently in academic and vocational/professional computer science discourse. (See Orr, 1995b; writing, and personal learning preferences Orr, Christianson, Coetze, & Okawara, may be obtained by employing pretests, 1995.) student questionnaires, and student Some of the information we gathered interviews. that is of particular use to our ESP writing Information about the vocabulary, program will be explained in the rest of this grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and paper. genre conventions of the target texts may be obtained by distributing and analyzing Definition of Computer Science faculty questionnaires, conducting faculty To assist our writing teachers and interviews, distributing and analyzing students in understanding the essence of vocational/professional questionnaires, computer science, we discovered that the conducting vocational/professional Association of Computing Machinery interviews, collecting genuine writing (ACM), one of the main professional samples for analysis (e.g. length, formatting, organizations for computer scientists, had a use of punctuation and mechanics, use of very clear description of the field. According active/passive constructions, use of to the ACM, Computer science is the systematic personal pronouns, organization of study of algorithmic processes that describe and 98 In the Classroom transform information - the theory, analysis, needed. design, efficiency, implementation, and 2. Process-Directed Writing application. The fundamental question Purpose: to facilitate the information underlying all computer science is “What can be creation process (e.g. diagrams and efficiently automated?” (Denning, 1988) mathematical formulas annotated with notes and memos) Writing in Computer Science When we looked at all the English 3. Input-Directed Writing writing that takes place in the computer Purpose: to obtain information, profession, we found roughly twenty-two approval, assistance, resources (e.g. different kinds of writing. In broad terms, stand-alone e-mail questions and requests, these could be categorized according to two proposals, calls for papers) general functions: (a) to manipulate information and (b) to manipulate resources. 4. Output-Directed Writing All otherfunctions were simply small Purpose: to disseminate information to pragmatic steps toward one of these two (re)define and/or advance the larger goals. profession and its membership or to To help students understand how these contribute to the profession’s knowledge genres functioned more specifically within base the profession, we developed a chart that a) community-building writing (e.g. grouped writing under four main categories research lab home pages, and four sub-categories. biographical sketches, letters from an editor or SIG [Special Interest Group] 1. Storage-Directed Writing chairperson) Purpose: to manage the mental/ b) knowledge-building writing (e.g. physical storage of information technical reports, conference papers/ a) notational support (e.g. notes in proceedings, journal articles) the margins of journal articles or conference proceedings, etc.) For more detailed descriptions and models b) organizational support (e.g. lists of professional writing practices in the of information sources, facts, computer sciences, see Orr, 1995b. formulas, etc.) To help orient computer science students to the writing characteristics of The role of writing in this aspect of computer science, it is best to prioritize professional work is often overlooked, and information according to immediate need yet it is an important one, particularly in and/or frequency of use. The English computer science where reading input is so writing instruction that is covered in immense. In our investigation of 25 freshman Composition 1 and 2 at the computer scientists in our Department of University of Aizu, for example, consists of Computer Hardware and Department of the following: Computer Software, for example, “faculty members claimed they read anywhere from Genres selected for instruction 1,030 to 25,500 pages of professional (Freshman Composition) literature1 each year, with the average being l digital dialog 5,558 pages.” Native English speakers read - simple two-person exchanges on average 10,667 pages of profession- (simple questions and answers) related English and non-native English - complex multi-person exchanges speakers from 12 other language groups (well-anchored discussion) read 3,308 pages of English on average (Orr, l object descriptions 1995b, p. 21). With such a tremendous load - short autobiographical sketches (l-3 of information for the human brain to sentences) process, clever writing and organizational - longer autobiographical sketches strategies must be employed to manage this (l-3 paragraphs) input and make it readily accessible when - electrical product description (e.g., laptop computer) On JALT96: Crossing Borders l narratives development. - short, reflective accounts of past l Passives Example: In this paper, a events model of a heterostructure bipolar l process descriptions transistor incorporating an RT - directions on how to perform a collector structure is developed and particular computer function discussed. (e.g. add sound to a Web page) l Anthropomorphization (inanimate - explanation of how something subjects with active verbs) Example: works (e.g. a computer mouse) computers perform, the screen shows, a l abstracts and bibliographies computer program instructs, this - abstract of a longer piece of writing paper presents5 in the computer sciences - annotated bibliography For those interested in viewing specific writing course syllabi, homework More complex genres are covered in assignments, and instruction material used Technical Writing 1 and 2, Advanced at the University of Aizu, point your Writing, and Research Methods, and applied favorite Web browser at the Center for in computer science courses, graduation Language Research on the University of research, and in the graduate school Aizu campus. Here some of our faculty have scheduled to open April 1, 1997. begun putting courseware and research papers on WWW to provide more efficient Language Features access. In addition to genre, an ESP writing 100 In the Classroom material in computer science courses. Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Language faculty teach the English Press. used in the definitions and Orr, T. (Ed.). (1995a). English for science and explanations of these specialist terms. technology: Profiles and perspectives. 3. This vocabulary is taught by Aizuwakamatsu, Japan: University of language teachers. Aizu. (ERIC Document Reproduction 4. For more detailed research on Service No. ED 389 174) vocabulary selection, see Orr, T., Orr, T. (1995b). Models of professional Christianson, K., Goetze, C., & writing practices within the field of Okawara, H., 1995. computer science. (Doctoral 5. Anthropomorphization seems to be dissertation, Ball State University). especially problematic for Japanese. Dissertation Abstracts International, 56A, See Kojima, S., & Kojima, K, 1978. 4754. Orr, T., Christianson, K., Goetze, C., & References Okawara, H. (1995). An analysis of lexical Denning, P. J., et al. (1988). Report of the ACM frequency and discourse need for instructive Task Force on the Core of Computer purposes. (Tech. Rep. 95-5-002). Science. New York: ACM Press. Aizuwakamatsu, Japan: University of Kojima, S., & Kojima, K. (1978). S (inanimate Aizu. (ERIC Document Reproduction subject) + Y + 0: A syntactical problem Service No. ED 389 229) in EST writing for Japanese. In M. T. Trimble, L. (1985). English for science and Trimble, L. Trimble, & K. Drobnic technology: A discourse approach. (Eds.), English for specific purposes: Cambridge: Cambridge University Science and technology (pp. 198-226). Press. Writing and Peer Feedback Tasks Guy Kellogg & L. Scott Rogstad Kanazawa Institute of Technology Introduction The language lesson in its present methodology, thereby emphasizing context represents the evolution of both evaluation and content from lesson to curriculum and syllabus design. Juxtaposed lesson. to this natural change over time in foreign The language lesson, as described by and second language course design and Prabhu, is “a unit in a planned curricular teaching, is the relationship of methodology sequence, an instance of teaching method in to lesson planning, and more specifically, to operation, a patterned social activity, and an the management of the lesson. Traditionally, encounter between human personalities” according to Nunan (1989), a major (1992, p. 225). difference between syllabus design and Prabhu’s main concerns are that the methodology is that the former tackles language lesson be understood as a grading and content whereas the latter deals relatively complicated event in the with activities and their sequences (p. 15). classroom and that as such, teachers should However, current trends in second and explore elements of the event, its routines, foreign language teaching, including the and speculate on outcomes. In short, communicative language teaching approaches emerging in the late 1970s teachers need to be theorists - not (Richards & Rodgers, 1986), encourage in the sense of being able to wield integration of syllabus design and. the apparatus of scholarship or the 101 On JALT96: Crossing Borders skills of academic argument, but in plays an important role in the learning of the sense of operating with an language in the classroom. Awareness is a active concept of the cause-effect type of consciousness described by Schmidt relationship between teaching and (1994) in van Lier (1996, p. 70) which refers learning. (Prabhu, 1992, p. 239) to knowledge of rules. This type of knowledge is important for students From this perspective, language involved in providing peer feedback and teaching has arrived at a point where revising written work. teacher and learner roles have necessarily changed. Traditionally, the teacher has been Background seen as an important (and in some cases the The setting for this series of activities is only) source of reference - the disseminator a technological university with of knowledge. Similarly, student behavior approximately 8,000 undergraduate has been described as imitative and students where languages are not offered as confined. At present, what is seen is the majors. First and second year students take teacher facilitating classroom interactions a series of required English courses based on and the students assuming more structural-functional syllabi and elective responsibility for their learning. This is not courses in English and German. The English to say that the teacher has relinquished courses average between 35 to 40 students responsibility for teaching and learning, but per class, so each teacher has approximately rather that the nature of responsibility has 180 students per term. There are three 9- to changed. The teacher, as a facilitator/guide, 10-week terms as opposed to the two 14 must focus more on creatively planning and week terms common at many universities. adapting activities and less on controlling Therefore the amount of time the teachers and monitoring student output. have to evaluate writing assignments and In order to frame the description of peer provide feedback and guidance is somewhat writing activities which are central to this short. When a student submits a writing paper, it is helpful to return to the concept of assignment, typically the teacher evaluates “theory” as originally referenced here to it, then returns it to the student with a grade Prabhu, and now placed in context with and some feedback, but often the feedback reference to classroom activities, namely the in the current structural-functional syllabus specific peer and teacher writing tasks is not of a type which would encourage the described in the Procedures and Outcomes student to make revisions. If the grade does section of this paper. not satisfy the student, he or she will perhaps try harder for a higher one on the For classroom activities to be next paper, but what will he or she do considered more than protective differently in that paper? In the interest of routines, it is minimally necessary encouraging students to proofread their for teachers to be operating with papers before turning them in, a decision their own beliefs about the was made to elaborate the writing process. pedagogic value of those activities Part of this process involves looking at - with their own notions or the various classroom roles. There are two theories of how learning comes main sets of roles: the teacher-student set of about and how the teaching that is roles and the student-student set. The done is bringing it about. (Prabhu, teacher-student set of roles often tends to be 1992, p. 237) based on authority on the part of the teacher and subordination on the part of the As one such example of the idea that student. Students do what the teacher says teachers need to have their “own beliefs” not because it is a good idea or will help about teaching and classroom activities, them, but because the teacher is the consider the principle of awareness. In both authority figure in the classroom. After the peer and teacher feedback components enduring this kind of role set for a number of the writing activities described in the of years, many students rebel against it Procedures and Outcomes section of this without thinking about the content. paper, a central premise is that awareness The student-student set of roles, on the 102 In the Classroom other hand, tends to be based on a common Feedback responses to the various enemy: English as a Foreign Language. It is questions differed in length among this feeling of ‘being in the same boat as the respondents. Possible changes to titles, topic other students” that we as teachers can use sentences, and conclusion sentences were in our classrooms. Tasks can be designed given as feedback. Unknown vocabulary that have both affective outcomes, which was written down and although the modify students’ feelings regarding such students were encouraged to write things as self- image, self-worth and definitions in English, some of them were in motivation, and constructive outcomes, the Japanese. Occasionally, meanings were kinds of things that cause the writer to make omitted because the word in question was “. changes in a composition. . . not in my dictionary.” Sentences not understood were also written down to Procedures and Outcomes encourage the original writer to make them The data for the writing activities clearer. Paragraph length was addressed consist of original paragraph-level writing with some respondents looking simply at assignment submissions from eight the number of words and others at the students; student responses to a peer content of the paragraph. Paragraph form feedback worksheet; three to five and the existence of the three main subsequent revisions of the original paragraph parts were also checked. paragraph; and correction symbols marked After the feedback responses were read on the revised paragraphs by the teacher. by the original writer, the second version of These data were collected from an elective the paragraph was written. New writing course, based on a process-oriented information often appeared coinciding with syllabus being offered for the first time in the classmate’s feedback; sometimes, even the university’s history. though there was no direct response about a The original assignment to be particular aspect of the paragraph, it was submitted for evaluation was to write a evident that the writer had taken a second simple listing paragraph (typed, containing look at it and made changes. Up to that the three parts of a paragraph and using a point the students had given each other relatively uncomplicated level of English) feedback about their paragraphs and consistent with the model in the textbook. rewritten them based on that feedback. The students were not informed that they The teacher then entered the process would later be required to give peer with the use of correction symbols, in order feedback and rewrite their paragraphs. It to indicate to the student some of the more should be noted here that this writing prominent errors. Using the symbols, which assignment, typical of the syllabus, is also the students also had for reference, the typical of assignments given in the required teacher was able to quickly identify such (structural-functional syllabi) courses, save things as grammar or spelling mistakes, that the elective class student would inappropriate vocabulary, and lack of clarity. additionally be required to provide peer Each writer then produced the third version feedback and rewrite the assignment. of the paragraph, making changes based on Therefore, the students in the elective the correction symbols; some of the changes class received a peer feedback worksheet to made were satisfactory, but some were not. be completed during class. Each student For the third and subsequent versions, the received another student’s paper and went students were encouraged to focus on through the worksheet, answering the micro-level corrections. The audience for various questions. Many of the questions the composition was thus shifted from peer deal with constructive feedback, i.e. to teacher, though many students continued understanding of the main idea, supporting to express interest in their peers’ revised information, and vocabulary. The final papers. The fourth and fifth versions of this question, on the other hand, is an affective composition repeated the cycle of teacher item; the respondent gives the writer highlighting errors and student fixing them feedback on aspects enjoyed and asks the as best as possible; some compositions writer questions about the content of the required fewer correction cycles than others. paragraph (see Appendix). . With each writing assignment the initial 103 On JALT96: Crossing ‘Borders student-to-student feedback acted as a kind time and rewrites, therefore, the students of ‘buffer” for the subsequent teacher-to- learned to be more aware, to identify, notice, student correction which occurred later in and focus on both the macro-level the process. guidelines of the assignment as well as the micro-level detailed types of errors Discussion indicated to them with correction symbols Feedback responses to the various such as those used in the first assignment. questions differed in length among The affective item at the end of the peer respondents, perhaps as a result of the feedback worksheet, which asks the writers’ or respondents’ levels of English or respondent to indicate which two aspects he differences in what was perceived to be an or she liked about the paragraph and why, “appropriate response.” Noteworthy is that as well as to ask two intelligent questions a student who produced a short paragraph about the content of the composition, often (several typed lines) could find him or served a dual purpose. First, the writer herself confronted with a full page and a could be flattered and/or motivated by the half of constructive and affective feedback. apparent “interest” taken by the respondent. Since this feedback came from a peer, it Second, the questions often provided a could be argued that the student’s springboard for new information and details awareness was raised, as evidenced by the which the writer could then include in a macro-level changes made in subsequent rewrite. versions, specifically the addition of In conclusion, we feel that by information, details, examples, and investigating a relatively narrow aspect of conclusion sentences, as opposed to mere our own teaching - namely, the level of spelling corrections and grammatical awareness of our students - we have been changes. able to create more meaningful Occasionally, meanings were omitted communicative activities for the writing from the item on the peer feedback classroom. Although we have not designed worksheet requiring the respondent to a study to prove the effectiveness of a indicate unfamiliar vocabulary because the specified methodology on the language word in question was “. . . not in my acquisition for a group of learners, we do dictionary,” due either to a spelling error or feel that we have participated in the an inadequacy of the respondent‘s evolution of language teaching and in the dictionary. This too, however, raised exploration of our own beliefs on pedagogy awareness among students - it bothered as described by Prabhu’s teaching and them that a peer could point to a word and learning cause-effect relationship. make the logical (albeit limited) argument that if the word was not in the dictionary, it References could not possibly be English! The original Nunan, D. (1989). Designing tasks for the writers then naturally shifted their focus communicative classroom. Cambridge: back and forth from meaning to form in Cambridge University Press. order to revise their writing for their peers. Prabhu, N. S. (1992). The dynamics of the It was also found that compositions language lesson. TESOL Quarterly, 26, written at the beginning of a term required 225-241. mom correction cycles than those submitted Richards, J. C. & Rodgers, T. S. (1986). later; perhaps the students changed the way Approaches and methods in language they produced first drafts of written work. teaching: A description and analysis. In their previous writing experience at the Cambridge: Cambridge University university, it was not explicit that a teacher Press. would require them to produce original van Lier, L. (1996). Interaction in the language written work which would be subsequently curriculum: Awareness, autonomy & revised and rewritten. In an effort to save authenticity. London: Longman. In the Classroom Appendix Peer Feedback Worksheet Write your answers in sentences. Use your own A-4 paper. 1. Whose report are you reading? What is his/her class and number? 2. Read the title and/or the first sentence of the report and write it down. What do you think the report will be about? 3. Read the whole report. Write a new title for this report. What is the main idea of this report? 4. Read the report again and make a table like the one on page 8 of your textbook. 5. Write down the words from this report that are new for you. Write down their meanings. 6. Write down the sentences from the report that you cannot understand. After each sentence, write one sentence to explain why you cannot understand the sentence. 7. Write down the conclusion sentence. Now, read the report again and write a new conclusion sentence. What did you change? Why did you change it? 8. Do you think that this report is long enough? Why? / Why not? 9. Is the report indented? Is the report in paragraph form? Is there a topic sentence, some body sentences and a conclusion sentence? 10. Write a short note to the classmate who wrote this report. Tell him/her two things that you really liked about his/her report. Also, tell him/her why you liked those two things. Then, write down two intelligent questions that you have about his/her report. 105 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Conversation Strategies, Timed Practice, and Noticing in Large Oral Communication Classes Tom Kenny Nanzan University Introduction this activity. In total, students will have Teachers who face the task of teaching spent more than half of the class devoted to large classes of rather poorly motivated non- this activity. language majors often sacrifice any hope of The following is a closer examination of actually improving their students’ oral the three major components of the activity: abilities for the more realistic goals of conversation strategies, timed practice, and keeping students busy in class and noticing. maintaining smooth classroom management. We often joke that large Conversation strategies classes require not teaching, but “crowd In recent years, more and more course control.” The weekly conversation activity books are including conversation strategies (my students have named it “the easy (CS) as a part of their regular units (Keller English activity”) described in this paper and Warner, 1988; Rost and McCannon, focuses on this problem by addressing and 1993; Kehe and Kehe, 1994). Conversation providing solutions for these key questions: strategies are handy, common lexical l What kind of oral English practice phrases used to show interest, show will engage these students? agreement, stall for time, clarify input and l Once motivated, what is an effective output, ask for repetition, summarize, way to keep students focused on the negotiate meaning, etc. (see figure 2). target language? Conversation strategies in this sense overlap l How can students best learn from with, but differ from communication strategies their oral practice? in that the latter concern managing the The activity itself has three main problems that arise in the production & components (see figure 1): Students practice comprehension of L2 speech (Dornyei and conversation strategies; they practice in Scott, in press), while the former is regarded timed segments that keep them focused on as a grouping of lexical items from which the task; and the practice is followed by a teachers can draw words and phrases that period of reflection wherein they record will facilitate conversation. For example, language used in their conversation. The opening gambits like “How’s it going?” and activity is part of a larger framework that “What’s new?” rightly belong in the also includes teacher interaction: category of conversation strategies; communication strategies like feigning The activity and post activity are understanding and mumbling clearly do not, repeated 4 - 7 times a lesson, depending on and it would be a strange teacher indeed how long each conversation lasts. Students who might encourage students to master stand in groups of eight, changing partners them. each time. Classes meet weekly for ninety The underlying assumption in the minutes; by the end of the semester, teaching of CS is that university-level approximately 45 -55 minutes is spent on students have enough English grammar and 106 In the Classroom conversation strategy controlled practice (if applicable) preparation of topic question/opinions/vocabulary (outside of class) conversation strategy warm-up activity free practice of CS / questions / vocabulary noticing during timed conversation reflection after conversation post-activity teacher wrap-up Figure 1 Activity Sequence Me too! Me neither! For example?? Never mind!! Hmm...Let me see That’s a difficult question! How about you? Just a moment, please! How’s it going? Really? That’s great! What’s new? Oh yeah? That’s too bad! Nice talking with you! You too! You’re kidding!! See ya later! I’m jealous! Sounds nice/interesting/fun/boring! Figure 2 Examples of conversation strategies vocabulary to have rudimentary they can be easy for students to remember. conversations on simple topics; what they However, they are not especially easy to really need are the interactional phrases that teach, because many CS (e. g. message will transform those simple “question- abandonment) do not lend themselves easily answer, question-answer” into real to pairwork exercises or substitution drill conversations. Since so much of the dialogues. language native speakers use on a daily What do students think about basis is interactional (i.e. used to maintain conversation strategies? Almost all students relationships) rather than transactional (95%) responded that using CS improves (functions to achieve some purpose) (Brown their conversations; in fact, 88% said they and Yule, 1983), then students should learn want to learn more strategies. About two- as much interactional language as possible. thirds also claimed that they had never Furthermore, because interactional language really used CS before the class. Students is highly ritualized, consisting of routine seem to like them not only because they are formulas and pre-fabricated language relatively short strings that are easy to chunks (Nattinger and DeCarrico, l992), produce and remember, but also because 107 On JALT96: Crossing Borders they are very powerful. Even a limited would probably speak more Japanese if the number of CS make their conversations speaking activity were more open-ended. more natural, giving students confidence as This may be because with timed they start on the mad to pragmatic fluency. conversation, learners have the psychological advantage of knowing that Timed practice the conversation will end soon, and when In the activity, conversation strategies it’s finished, they can take refuge in their are practiced in conversations of up to five native tongue for a moment. With more minutes in length where the student’s goal openended practice, on the other hand, is to use the CS as much as possible. Among students don’t know when that moment of the first CS taught are openers and closers respite will come and are perhaps more that students can use to begin and end their likely to launch into their native language. conversation; timed practice tells them when to begin and end. Students speak until Noticing they hear the signal from the stopwatch and Armed with conversation strategies, then they finish quickly. Conversations start practiced in timed conversations, students at one to two minutes and get longer every can talk together and stay in an “English week until students are speaking in five only” environment. Despite using well- minute conversations with no pauses by the formed CS, however, learners often produce end of the semester. (This goal is explicitly grammatically ill-formed utterances. The tacit assumption held by many university- stated for them in the first lesson.) level EFL teachers in Japan is that most of From a classroom management the non-language majors in their oversized perspective, timed conversation has several classes have reached a level of grammatical benefits. First, all students start and finish at accuracy that most teachers can do little to the same time -- this way, more skilled improve upon. Student attitude doesn’t help students can’t finish the activity faster than the cause for grammar either and may weaker students, a common problem with support this assumption. Of 213 learners practicing dialogs or information respondents, 56% said they did not want to gap exercises. Next, it’s easy to plan lessons learn more grammar. In an attempt to (e. g. 8 conversations @ 4 minutes = 45 discern attitudes toward the teaching of minutes of a lesson, including reflection fluency vs. accuracy, students were asked periods (discussed below)). And since a “Is practicing CS more important than stopwatch beeper tells students when to practicing grammar?” An overwhelming ninety percent answered ‘Yes.” This is end, there’s no talking over a roomful of admittedly a broad question that deserves students to quiet them down. qualification and further study, but at the The greatest benefit of using timed very least, such a response indicates a practice is that it keeps learners speaking in rejection of the explicit practice of grammar. an “English only” environment. Naturally, if Grammatical accuracy, however, is students have a limited time in which to undeniably important; even the most fast- perform a task, they tend to remain focused talking L2 learner can be judged non-fluent on it. But when the pressure of a timer is when too many errors obfuscate the added, the task assumes an air of excitement message (Schmidt, 1992). and performance as well. The framework of The cognitive act of noticing (Schmidt & timed conversation creates a stage; the Frota 1986; Swain, 1995; Ellis, 1994) can help partners are the players, and the play is students improve grammatical accuracy, as well as vocabulary and conversation English. strategy use. When students are trained to How many learners spoke “English notice the language they use and the only” during timed conversation practice? language their partners use, it adds a new Sixty-three percent said that they did. dimension of learning to every conversation Additionally, learners were asked to they have. Practice becomes goal-oriented speculate about how much English they speaking: “I'll practice speaking & try to might speak if they didn’t converse within find something I say that’s wrong or listen the timed practice framework; an for something I can steal from my partner.” overwhelming 81% of respondents said they An example will illustrate the role of noticing in the activity. A student practices 108 In the Classroom CS during a timed conversation. Her goal is vocabulary items before working up to to notice the strategies used by her partner. grammar structures. If learners are During the timed practice, her partner says reminded of certain grammatical structures “That’s a difficult question.” The student relevant to weekly conversation topics (“If I notices the new language feature, compares have money, I’ll go to the movies”), the it with her present output and realizes that reminders make the structure salient she never uses that CS. She judges it a good enough to make noticing possible and an feature to remember and retains it until she effective tool for improving accuracy. can write it down after the conversation. What do students think about noticing? Ellis (1994) calls this intake, a language Most said it was difficult, but also said it feature that is noticed and held in became easier with practice. Eighty-two temporary memory which the learner can percent felt noticing helped them to see use as output later. The noticing activity is what language they used, and 76% reported not complete, however, until the intake is that it helped them learn language from recorded during a reflection period their partners. An early assumption in the following the timed conversation. Following creation of the activity was that it would be this, the teacher can elicit intake from cognitively less demanding on learners to students to wrapup before starting the notice language features in their own output activity again. rather than in their partners’ output. The Asking low-level students to practice figures above seem to support that conversation and be conscious of the assumption, as do the results of the question language used can be a cognitively “Was it easier to remember the language demanding task, one that requires some you used than the language your partner training. Early in the semester, students are used?” (see figure 3). As much as they found trained to report on the content of their noticing to be helpful, however, they partners’ speech (e. g. “Yuki wants to see probably did not find it as much fun as Independence Day”) then shift to noticing the speaking practice; two-thirds of the students form of the output (“She said incredibly said they would rather have another expensive about tickets. It’s a new word!“). conversation instead of noticing between Students practice noticing CS and conversations. Question YKZ.9 Yes, Not NO some- reallv what 1. CS makes my conversations better 57.7% 37.1% 4.7% .5% 2. I used CS before this class 6.1 25.4 43.2 25.4 3. Practicing CS is more important than 53.8 36.7 8.6 1.0 practicing grammar 4. I wanted tc, learn more CS 49.3 38.5 11.7 25 5. I wanted to learn more grammar 16.9 26.8 39.4 16.9 6. Practicing CS is more important than practicing grammar 53.8 36.7 8.6 1.0 7. Timed practice is a goodway to practice 48.6 39.6 9.9 1.9 Figure 3: Questionnaire results . 109 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Conclusion Ellis, R. (1994). The study of second language A problem with noticing is that when acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University students am more or less at the same low Press. level, there’s not a very wide gap between Kehe, D. and Kehe, P. D. (1994). Conversation learners. It’s unlikely that partners can strategies. Brattleboro, Vermont: Pro introduce new vocabulary or grammatical Lingua Associates. patterns unless they prepare for it outside of Keller, E. and Warner, S. (1988). Conversation class. There is also some question about the gambits. Hove: Language Teaching benefit of keeping language features in Publications. short-term memory between noticing and Nattinger, J. R. and DeCarrico, J. S. (1992). the reflection period. Why can’t students Lexical phrases and language teaching. quickly jot down the intake during the Oxford: Oxford University Press. conversation? For fluency activities to work Rost, M. and McGannon, A. (1993). Keynote: though, students need to interact with each Communication in the real world. Essex: other, not with pens and paper. Nonetheless, Longman Group. it is doubtful that some learners have much Schmidt, R. W. (1992). Psychological to gain by practicing this cognitive task. mechanisms underlying second Other problems include students who never language fluency. Studies in second get Past reporting partners’ content, rather language acquisition, 14, 357-385. than form, and students who notice the Schmidt, R. W. and Frota, S. N. (1986). same things over and over. But these are Developing basic conversation ability in pmblems with student behavior, not with a second language: A case study of an noticing itself. adult learner of Portuguese. In R. Day Despite these problems, the activity (Ed.), Talking to learn. Rowley, Newbury engages and motivates learners, improves House. fluency, but doesn‘t ignore accuracy. Swain, M. (1995). Three functions of output Students enjoy using conversation in second language learning. In G. Cook strategies; timed practice enhances and B. Seidlhofer (Eds.), Principle & classroom management and keeps students practice in applied linguistics (pp. 125- in “English only” Noticing makes learners 143). Oxford: Oxford University Press. aware of their mistakes and successes, and helps them learn from their partners. The author wishes to express his gratitude Overall, students (87%) felt that the activity to Takashi Matsunaga for his work on the improved their English conversation ability, statistical analysis of student questionnaires and 84% said they enjoyed English more and to Philip Rush for his comments on the than before because of the class. results of the survey The author also wishes to thank Tim Murphey and Linda Woo for References their valuable advice and suggestions which Brown, G. and Yule, G. (1983). Teaching the have been helpful in the evolution of this spoken language. Cambridge: Cambridge activity, and to Linda Woo again for University Press. commenting on earlier drafts of this article. Dornyei, Z and Scott, M. L. (in press). Errors and inconsistencies are solely the Communication strategies in a second responsibility of the author. language: Definitions and taxonomies. In the Classroom Amaterasu and the power of dance in the classroom. David Bell Nagoya University of Commerce and Business Administration One day, Amaterasu, the goddess of light, retired to a cave in anger, thus plunging the world into darkness. In order to lure her out, another goddess mounted an overturned tub, bared her body and danced vigorously while the other gods sang and beat time. Intrigued by the laughter and shouting, Amaterasu came out and joined them, thus ending her self-imposed exile and bringing light back to the world. The gods, having discovered the pleasure of performing and watching dance, passed their accomplishment on to man. (Japanese myth ) Can the power of dance have a similar that students will happily read scripted enlightening effect in the language dialogues to each other allows the use of classroom? Although this gift from the gods various drama techniques which exploit is pervasive in everyday life, we tend to mood and gesture, etc. My own particular think that dance has little pedagogical approach to reconciling a communicative significance. But the imaginative use of approach with the students’ reluctance to dance can provide solutions for seemingly communicate begins by exploiting their intractable pedagogical problems and liking for choral drills. provide new dimensions for language learning both in and out of the classroom. Choral drills and the communicative approach “The wall of silence” It is somewhat paradoxical that the Most new EFL teachers in the Japanese individually silent student can be classroom are greeted by the “the wall of forthcoming when asked to participate in a silence,” a reluctance to speak, conditioned choral drill. Yet, in the choral drill, it is the by educational and cultural norms against silent who may be considered “the nail that immodesty of the tongue (Wierzbicka, 1994). sticks up.” But drilling and the Prohibitions against verbal immodesty are communicative approach are not easy captured in the Japanese proverb, “The nail bedfellows. Choral drilling still remains a that sticks up gets hammered down.” technique in the communicative classroom Naturally, for the teacher schooled in the but one that is used sparingly to give communicative approach, student students functional control of a new reluctance to speak is a major challenge. language item. The communicative One way of confronting this challenge approach could never countenance the is to meet the students half-way, what prominence of the drill in the Audio Lingual Anderson (1992) calls “blending.” Blending Method, where it was considered the key requires the teacher to discover the technique for instilling good language circumstances in which students are habits. And even though attempts have been comfortable talking and then begin to turn made to develop communicative drills, those circumstances into communicative these have tended to be more semi- language practice. So, for example, knowing controlled pair-work activities rather than 111 On JALT96: Crossing Borders choral (Walz, 1989). The importance of body movement in However, a place can be found for the language classroom choral drilling in the communicative But research in cognitive style and non- approach if we take a broader view of the verbal communication points to more nature of communication. Several writers substantive reasons why dance should be have described language in terms of part of a language class. Gardner (1993) not functions, of which communication is just only suggests that we are possessed of one. For Jakobson (1987), the poetic function “multiple intelligences” but also that these of language is distinguished by the way intelligences may constitute preferred words are selected and combined according personalized learning styles. Asher’s Total to different axes, what he called the Physical Response (1977) is one attempt to “projection principle.” In the slogan, “I like exploit the powerful connections in memory Ike,” like has been selected from the vertical created by combining language and actions. or paradigmatic axis by virtue of its ability Furthermore, an increasing number of to combine with I and Ike to form a phonetic studies underline the importance of the patterning on the syntagmatic or horizontal body and movement in language. For axis. First language acquisition is replete example, Kendon (1979) has documented with examples of the poetic function in the the synchronization of gesture and speech, form of rhymes, songs and chants. And this Bolinger (1986) has highlighted the delight in the poetic function carries over to connection between body movement and our adult lives as we spontaneously sing a intonation, and Acton (1984) has argued that few lines of a song, mimic an advertising breakthroughs in teaching pronunciation jingle, or break out into a sports chant. The can be made through teaching the success of Carolyn Graham’s (1978) accompanying gesture/body movement. infectious jazz chants is essentially due to their appeal to our poetic and rhythmic Seven reasons to dance sensibilities. 1. Dance in the language classroom But jazz chants are also communicative provides engaging ways in which in ways not immediately understood by the students can gain functional control notion of communication. Watching a of language by emphasizing Graham demonstration is watching phonologicalchunks, sentence stress performance art and any teacher who and intonation, conversational similarly performs in the classroom a song, rhythm, gesture and body movement. a drawing, a story, or a mime, etc., will be 2. Dance and gesture can combine to aware of the heightened level engagement provide powerful kinesthetic on the part of the student. Is this connections for vocabulary communication? Well, it certainly feels like development. it, especially if we can get our students to 3. Dance can be used as a force to unify actively participate in the performance. If the community of the classroom and you have ever been to a dance class, you lower affective factors. will know that learning a dance can be an 4. Dance has a power to transform our exhausting process of watching a notions of classroom space by demonstration, listening to instructions, exploiting hitherto unused working trying it out yourself, getting feedback, space. reflecting on the experience, seeking 5. Dance helps expose language clarification, and then demonstrating that learners to the culture which you have understood, and so on. As underlies the target language. The Widdowson (1984) has argued, the aim of dances I have used in class draw on a the communicative process is to negotiate wide range of rhythmic sources: meaning by working towards a satisfactory children’s skipping or jump rope convergence of worlds among interlocutors songs and rhymes, hand-clapping, so that understanding can be achieved. And sports chants, cheer-leading, etc. of course understanding can be 6. Dance may allow students to get in demonstrated by actions as well as words. touch with those rhythmic resources which played a part in the 112 In the Classroom acquisition of their first language and Use this dance after introducing clothes make these available for the vocabulary. You need to use clothes with kinesthetic learning of their second two syllables to begin with: “jacket,” language. “trousers,” “ sweater,” etc. Each syllable is 7. And finally, by liberating language given equal stress so that students can clap learners from the silence and stillness or stamp their feet to the beats conga-style. which pervades many language Use the name of a department store classrooms, dance helps prepare the appropriate to the country you are teaching body (and the mind) for the more in. But make sure it also is two syllables. In cognitive demands of language Japan, I use the store “Uny,” which is learning. intended to be ironic because its clothes are cheap and functional and it is certainly not a The dances store you would want to brag about. Here are just a few dances which will Practice the drill first with students in their serve as examples of what can be done seats. They can clap or stamp their feet on when drills are choreographed with dance both syllables of the last word of each line: steps. jacket [dZ&-kIt], Macy’s[me-sIz]. Continue as for a substitution drill. You can use other 1. Can you/Could you?//Did you/Don’t you? two syllable words: “sweater,” jacket,” and Introduce each item separately. With “trousers,” but then as you run out of two your left fist clenched, punch the air and syllable words you’ll have to “turn” single shout [kIny@ ]. Repeat with the right fist syllable words into two. Practice this with punching the air. Now raise both fists and the class first; for example, shoes [Su-uz], repeat three times: [kIny@ ], [kIny@ ], (kIny@ ]. shirt [S@-@rt], etc. The clenched fist punching the air gives the Now get the students up. You can start chant the feel of a ‘primitive’ battle cry and of by getting them to do it without emphasizes the modal/auxiliary plus movement across the floor by stamping subject construction as a phonological their feet on the two beats of “jacket” and chunk. At first, students will not be aware “Macy’s.” Then put them in a circle - the that the sound they are yelling is “can you” best place to form a circle is usually around but they will eventually cotton on. Then the walls of the classroom. They move introduce the other forms in exactly the forward two beats/steps and then stamp, same way. Now get the students up in two clap or, better still, wiggle their hips on the lines facing each other. One line goes two beat clothes words and store name. forward two steps, shouting [klny@] with Now choose about five of your better the left fist clenched on the first step and students and arrange them and yourself [kIny@] with the right fist clenched on the into either two rows of three or three rows second step, and then moves forward more of two. Put yourself in the first row right quickly three steps with both fists raised position. You are going to move in a square shouting: [kIny@], IkIny@], [kIny@]. The formation and end up in the same position other line then moves forward shouting you started at. So, “Don’t you like my [dIdya] in exactly the same way. Then the jacket?” corresponds to one side of the box. first line goes backward with [kUdy@] and “Jacket" marks the corner. Clap, stamp or then the second line goes back with wiggle on “jacket" and then turn ninety [dontS@l. degrees and continue with the next side of the box which is, “I got it cheap at Macy’s.” 2. Don’t you like my jacket? Clap, stamp or wiggle on “Macy’s” and then I got it cheap at Macy’s. turn and continue with, “Don’t you like my This dance originated by taking an trousers?,” which marks the third side of the exuberant Latin type beat, a conga to be box. Turn after “trousers” and do the last exact, and fitting words to it. Here hand- side of the box with, “I got them cheap at clapping, hip movement and foot-stamping Macy’s.” You can continue making more drive what is essentially a substitution drill. boxes with other substitutions. Space The square floor pattern adds a further layer permitting, you could build up this of group cohesion. formation drill to the class as a whole. It’s 113 On JALT96: Crossing Borders quite a thrill to get a formation team of language learning. The real measure of the students to chant and dance in unison and success of dance in the classroom is finish together where they started. whether students will take away from the lesson a beat, a chant and a step, and in their 3. Excuse me. own space and time break out Can you tell me where the bank is? spontaneously into these routines. Excuse me. Turn left. Turn right. References Not only single utterances but whole Acton, W. (1984). Changing fossilized conversational exchanges may serve as pronunciation. TESOL Quarterly 18 material for dance drills. This dance drill (1),71-85. would ideally accompany a dialogue-build Anderson, F. (1992). The enigma of the on directions. In this sense, the dance drill is college classroom: Nails that don’t stick a schematic form of a fuller, more natural up. In P. Wadden (Ed.)A handbook for conversation. Practice the first two lines teaching English at Japanese colleges and with students in their seats. Drill the two- universities. New York Oxford syllable reduced form of excuse me [skyuz University Press. mi]. Make it equal stress and pause between Asher, J (1977). Learning another language each utterance. “Can you tell me where the through actions: The complete teacher‘s bank is?” also has equal stress on the last guidebook. Los Gatos, CA: Sky Oaks two syllables which also have the most Productions. prominent sentence stress. (di di Da di Da di Bolinger, D. (1986). Intonation and its parts. Da Da) Start with “Can you” [kIny’) and Stanford: Stanford University Press. drill it as a phonological chunk as in dance Gardner, H. (1993). Multiple intelligences: the drill 1 and then build up to the full phrase. theory in practice. New York Basic Get students to clap or snap their fingers on Books. the final two beats of “bank is.” Graham, C. (1978). Jazz chants. Oxford: Now get students up in a circle. First Oxford University Press. practice “Excuse me” [skyuz mi] (two Jakobson, R. (1987). Linguistics and poetics. beats). This is done as a kind of shuffle with In K. Pomorska & S. Rudy, (Eds.), the weight moving from the left foot to the Language in literature (pp. 63-93). right foot on each syllable. Now practice, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University “Can you tell me where the bank is?” (four Press. beats). In contrast, this phrase has much Kendon, A. (1979). Movement coordination more forward movement finishing with foot in social interaction: Some examples stamping/ hand clapping on the last two described. In S. Weitz (Ed.)Non-verbal beats “bank is.” Now combine “Excuse me” communication: Readings with and “Can you tell me where the bank is?” commentary. New York Oxford Do each line four times. The first line is a University Press. slow shuffling beat while the second is more Walz, J. (1989). Context and contextualized of a strut. The last line is also quite language practice in foreign language boisterous. Have students raise their arms teaching. The Modern language Journal, above their heads, turning them to the left 73 (2), 160-168. and the right as they chant, “Turn left. Turn Widdowson, H. (1984). Explorations in right.“(two beats) Now you are ready to put applied linguistics 2. Oxford: Oxford the whole thing together. Remember to University Press. repeat each phrase four times. The whole Wierzbicka, A. (1994). “Cultural scripts”: A thing now becomes an endless loop. semantic approach to cultural analysis and cross-cultural communication. In L. Conclusion Bouton & Y. Kachru (Eds.) Pragmatics What I have tried to do in this paper, is and language learning. Monograph Series to tap into the universal delight in playing Volume 5. Urbana-Champaign: with words and movement, and use it for University of Illinois. 114 In the Classroom The Process of Revising Tests and Creating Parallel Forms Alan Hunt Kansai Gaidai University David Beglar Temple University Japan Introduction Description and purposes of the 2,000 Test reliability is important in both word level tests research and the development of Like Nation’s and Schmitt’s original educational curricula. Reliable test scores 2,000 word level vocabulary test forms, the form the basis upon which other statistical authors’ revised test is a matching test that tests such as correlations or ANOVAs are measures the breadth of the learner’s calculated; therefore, higher test reliability vocabulary knowledge (i.e., a basic meaning means subsequent statistical analyses will of a word), but not the depth of that contain less error. Furthermore, a critical knowledge (Read, 1988). The following is an component of any educational curriculum is example of three items from one of the reliable norm-referenced tests, which can be revised tests: used for measuring proficiency and making a. royal placement decisions. Essentially, _ first b. slow understanding how to create more reliable ---not public c. original tests provides the basis for teachers to all added d. sorry improve their own or others’ tests. together e. total In addition to improving reliability, f. private making parallel (statistically equivalent) test forms offers several advantages for Drawing from West’s General Service researchers and language programs: first, List (1953), the answer choices are taken parallel forms give further proof of from the first 2,000 high frequency words, reliability; in addition, they can be used for while the definitions are written using the pre- and post-testing; and finally, different first 1,000 high frequency words. Further forms provide increased test security for information about the development of the both diagnostic and proficiency testing. original tests, which range from the 2,000 to This paper will discuss how to revise the 10,000 word levels can be found in norm-referenced tests to increase reliability Nation (1990) and Read (1988). and how to create parallel test forms. The Both the original and the revised tests authors will illustrate this process using would typically be used as criterion- statistics from their research on the original referenced diagnostic tests or as one test in a forms of the 2,000 Word Level Test (Nation, proficiency test battery. In diagnostic testing, 1983; Nation, 1990; Schmitt, 1993). In the students’ scores could be used to estimate present study, the original tests were the degree to which they knew the 2,000 administered to 496 Japanese students word level vocabulary. In proficiency whose educational levels ranged from the testing, the scores could be used as part of a first year in high school to the third year in battery of tests for admission to or university. placement at a certain level in language programs. 115 On JALT96: Crossing Borders The process of testing Determining item quality Deciding the number of test items and test After data have been gathered from length piloting the tests, the test items must be Ideally, many of the initially developed analyzed. This requires examining the test items will have a strong relationship relationship of individual items to the with the skill being tested (Bachman and overall test as well as measuring the Palmer, 1996). Nevertheless, some items will difficulty of each item and the ability of not perform well; therefore, it is extremely individual items to discriminate among high important to start with twice as many items and low scorers. as are desired for the final test (Brown, 1996, The first point to consider is the p. 74). This will guarantee that there will be relationship of individual items to the enough “good” items (defined in the next overall test. Ideally, the items and the test section) for the final version of the test. In should be measuring the same thing. This is general, highly reliable tests will be made determined by checking the correlation up of approximately 30 or more good items; results: there should be a positive otherwise, it can be difficult to attain correlation between each item and all other sufficiently high reliability. items on the test. This correlational Test length is thus an essential relationship (R2) is referred to as the component in test reliability. The basic goal “squared multiple R” by statisticians. of most tests is to attain .90 reliability (Vierra A second expectation is that each item and Pollock, 1992, p. 62). If the consequences on the test should have a positive for the test-takers are potentially great, for correlation with the total test score; this is example, acceptance into a university, then referred to as either item discrimination or longer, even more reliable tests (e.g., .95 the item-total correlation (see Brown, 1996, reliability) will minimize measurement error p. 66-69). That is, any item that does not and produce fairer, more professional correlate well with the total test score is results. probably measuring something different from the test as a whole Piloting tests The following examples from form A of Once the initial set of items has been the original 2,000 word level test illustrates written, then the next step is to pilot the test. the effects of different squared multiple Rs Piloting allows researchers to work out the and the item-total correlations on the logistics of administering their tests; in reliability of the whole test. addition, it provides some preliminary information regarding the quality of test Table 1 items. When piloting a test, at least 30 Statistics for Selected Items from the subjects should take the test in order to be Original 2,000 Word Level Form A certain that the results are reliable. In the present case study, a trial run ltem Item-Total Squared Reliability with over 100 subjects revealed that less Number Correlation Multiple R if Deleted than 35 minutes was required to complete all 72 of Nation’s and Schmitt’s original 1 .42 28 .78 items, confirming that the test could easily 2 .48 29 .77 be given within a 50-minute class. The pilot 3 -.14 .05 .82 study also pointed out some obviously bad items (e.g., ones which almost no one got correct). In some cases a single distractor The closer a correlation figure is to zero, the accounted for the majority of incorrect lower the item’s correlation is with the answers, suggesting that the distractor had overall test. Clearly, item 3 correlates very to be revised (see Brown, 1996, p. 70-74 on poorly with the other items on the test and distractor efficiency analysis). In addition, it the total test scores. The negative item was also learned that the English test correlation value of item 3 indicates that low directions were sometimes not followed; scoring students correctly answer this item therefore, the directions were translated into more often than high scoring students; thus Japanese. . it is functioning quite differently from the 116 In the Classroom rest of the test items and should be items appear on the revised test, the 54 eliminated. Retaining item 3 lowers the items of the revised test had a reliability of test’s reliability; however, deleting it raises .95, which equals the reliability of the longer the test’s reliability to .82. Thus, items which 72 item test. perform poorly decrease a test’s reliability, while those which perform well increase a Test reliability test’s reliability. After having analyzed each item, The quality of individual test items poorly functioning items should be must also be checked by analyzing their eliminated or revised, re-piloted, and re- level of difficulty and their ability to analyzed. At this stage the resulting test or discriminate among test-takers. This is test forms should have approximately 30 usually termed item facility (IF) and is used items or mom each with an ID of .30 or to check the percentage of students who higher. Once this is done, then the reliability correctly answer a given item. The formula of the test forms will need to be analyzed, for determining IF is to take the total and the most appropriate type of reliability number of correct answers for an item and formula must be determined. In the case of divide that number by the total number of the 2,000 word level tests, in which the students who took the test. For example, if creation of parallel forms was one of the 100 students take a test and 27 of them get primary goals, both equivalent-forms item 1 correct, you divide 27 by 100 and get reliability and internal-consistency an IF of .27, which means that 27% of the reliability were considered to be students got the item correct. In general, the appropriate. These statistical analyses ideal item has an IF near .50. underestimate the test’s true reliability, so Closely related to IF is the ability of an the results can be trusted as a conservative item to separate those who performed well estimate of reliability (see Brown, 1996, pp. from those who performed poorly. This is 192-203). known as item discrimination (ID). The Equivalent-forms reliability requires formula for calculating ID is: that two different but equivalent forms of a test be administered to the same group of ID = IF - IF students. The scores of the two tests are then upper lower correlated and the resulting correlation For each item, the ID is calculated by coefficient can be considered as an estimate subtracting IFlower (the lower third of the of the reliability of the test. However, it can group) from IFupper (the upper third of the be both difficult and time consuming to group). For example, if .60 of the students in produce equivalent forms. To illustrate the top third correctly answer an item and equivalent forms reliability, two forms of the .20 of the students in the lower third 2,000 word level test were created (see the correctly answer the same item, the ID is .60 next section), and the correlation coefficients - .20 = .40. ID statistics can be interpreted between the forms were compared and were using the following criteria (Ebel, 1979, p. found to correlate at .89. This is an 267): acceptably strong correlation for two forms of the same test. In this case, the correlation .40 and higher very good items coefficient (r = .89) confirms the reliability .30 to .39 fairly good items that was determined by the internal subject to improvement consistency method, which had a reliability .20 to .29 items in need of coefficient of .90 using the Cronbach alpha improvement reliability formula. Reliability can be below .19 items which need to determined using any one of several be revised or eliminated common statistical formulas such as split- half reliability, Cronbach’s alpha or Kuder- In the case of the revised 2,000 word Richardson 20 (KR-20). level test the 72 items from the original test were reduced to 54 items by discarding 18 of Writing parallel test forms the original items that had lower item Once individual items have been discrimination values. Even though fewer analyzed and selected for the final test, then 117 On JALl96: Crossing Borders the creation of parallel forms can begin. As different. mentioned before, 30 items per form is the Finally, equivalent covariance ideal number; however, out of the 72 (interform covariances) must be established original items on the 2,000 Word Level Tests, by showing that there are no significant 18 were determined to be weak, so the differences in correlation coefficients among remaining 54 items could at best be made equivalent forms or among correlation into two 27 item forms. Essentially, the 27 coefficients of equivalent forms with a third, item forms were found to be the best established test (e.g., a concurrent criterion compromise between test length and item such as TOEFL). The correlation coefficients quality, since adding more items would not between forms A and B of the 2,000 word have increased the forms’ reliability. level test and their correlation with the full Once it was decided to make two 27 TOEFL test were found not to differ. item forms, individual items were then shifted between the forms to bring the Conclusion means and standard deviations closer to In conclusion, the process of revising each other. tests to improve their reliability and the creation of parallel forms starts with piloting them to make necessary adjustments in Table 2 logistics, test items, and directions. Then, Descriptive Statistics for the Revised 2,000 recalling that the goal is to retain Word Level Tests Forms A and B approximately 30 items per test or test form and to attain a reliability of .90 or higher, the item quality needs to be analyzed. Form A Form B Individual items should have an item discrimination value of .30 or higher. At this Number of Item 27.00 27.00 stage, the reliability of the revised test or test 19.90 20.06 forms should be calculated. Finally, parallel 6.07 6.04 forms can be made, statistically analyzed, and revised in order to achieve equivalence. Revising tests to raise their reliability As table 2 shows, it was possible to create and creating parallel forms have practical two forms with similar means and standard advantages for researchers and instructors deviations. However, the next step is to who are involved in curriculum show statistically that the forms are indeed development. It is inevitable that tests, of equivalent difficulty (Henning, 1987, p. particularly when first developed, will have 81). Three criteria must be met in order to items which perform poorly and lower the demonstrate equivalence. First, there must tests’ reliability. Out of fairness to the test- be no significant differences in mean scores takers, it is important to make tests as when the test forms are administered to the reliable as possible. Discarding weaker same population. This is established items will not only raise test reliability, but through comparing the means with a will also reduce the amount of time needed dependent t-test an ANOVA (Hatch and for administering the tests. Finally, the Lazaraton, 1991, pp. 287-294 and pp. 345- creation of parallel forms allows for pre- and 355). In the case of the 2,000 word level test, post-testing as well as improved test both forms A and B were used to confirm security by ensuring that test-takers who sit that the means of the two forms were not next to each other have different forms. significantly different. Secondly, one must show that there are References equivalent variances (variance is standard Bachman, L.F. & Palmer, A.S. (1996). distribution squared) between the forms Language Testing in Practice. Oxford: when the distributions for the same Oxford University Press. population axe compared with an F-max test Brisbois, J. E. (1992). Do first language writing (Guilford & Fruchter, 1978, p. 163). Again, and second language reading equal second the variances for forms A and B of the 2,000 language reading comprehension? An word level test were not significantly assessment dilemma. Paper presented at 118 In the Classroom the 42nd annual meeting of the unsimplified texts for pleasure? National Reading Conference. San Reading in a Foreign Language, 8(2), 689- Antonio, TX. 696. Brown, J. D. (1996). Testing in Language Laufer, B. (1992). How much lexis is Programs. Upper Saddle River, NJ: necessary for reading comprehension? Prentice Hall Regents. In H. Bejoint & P. Arnaud (Eds.). Chall, J. S. (1991). Ten best ideas for reading Vocabulary and Applied Linguistics (pp. teachers. In Edward Fry (Ed.) Ten Best 126-132). London: MacMillan. Ideas for Reading Teachers (pp. l-51. New Liu, N. & Nation, I. S. P. (1985). Factors York: Addison-Wesley. Chall, J. S. & affecting guessing vocabulary in Stahl, S. A. (1985). Reading context. RELC Journal, 16(l), 33-42. comprehension research in the past Nation, I. S. P. (1983). Testing and teaching decade: implications for educational vocabulary. Guidelines, 5, 12-25. publishing. Book Research Quarterly, 1, Nation, 1. S. P. (1990). Teaching and Learning 95-102. Vocabulary, Newbury House: New York. Ebel, R. L. (1979). Essentials of Educational Pedhazur, E.J. & Schmelkin, L. P. (1991). Measurement. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Measurement, Design, and Analysis. Prentice-Hall. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Guilford, J.P & Fruchter, B. (1978). Read, J. (1988). Measuring the vocabulary Fundamental Statistics in Psychology and knowledge of second language learners. Education. New York: McGraw-Hill. RELC Journal, 19, 12-25. Hatch, E & Lazaraton, A. (1991). The Research Schmitt, N. (1993). Forms B, C, and D of the Manual: Design and Statistics for Applied 2,000, 3,000, 5,000, UWL, and 10,000 Linguistics. New York: Newbury word levels tests. Unpublished House. manuscript. Henning, G. (1987). A Guide to Language Thorndike, R. L. (1973). Reading as Testing: Development, Evaluation, Reasoning. Reading Research Quarterly, Research. Cambridge, Mass: Newbury 9, 135-147. House. Vierra, A. & Pollock, J. (1992). Reading Henning, G: (1991). A study of the effects of Educational Research. Scottsdale: contextualization and familiarization on Gorsuch Scarisbrick. responses to the TOEFL vocabulary test West, M. (1953). A General Service List of items. TOEFL Research Reports, No. 35. English Words. London: Longman. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Xue, G. & Nation, 1. S. P. (1984). A university Service. word list. Language Learning and Hirsh, D. & Nation, P. (1992). What Communication, 3, 215-229. vocabulary size is needed to read Continuous Assessment Facilitated by CAI Colin Painter Prefectural University of Kumamoto This paper illustrates how multimedia testing. The validity of the criterion- computer software facilitated the referenced performance testing is covered. continuous assessment of oral Also revealed is the relationship between communication performance in classes of communicative performance opportunities Japanese university students. With learners and proficiency as reflected in performance engaged in tasks, the teacher was able to test scores. supply pedagogic assistance and conduct 119 On JALT96: Crossing Borders statistical methods have little use. As Background Bachman (1990) points out, reliability A task involving role-play is one estimates depend on the amount of method of having learners demonstrate variability in test scores. For this reason, their communicative performance ability. classical norm-referenced estimates of The use of role-play has been covered by reliability are ineffective with criterion- Underhill (1987), Hughes (1989), Seliger and referenced test scores. Shohamy (1989). Another project (Painter, 1995) showed how learner-pairs requested Purpose of Study testing using role-play after completing a The current purpose was to illustrate unit of functionally-based language activity how the continuous assessment of oral with computers. Role-plays, typically via an communication performance was facilitated information gap, require participants to using multimedia computer software accomplish a task by exchanging (Milward, 1993). Concurrently, it was information. The ability to do this can then considered necessary to establish reliability indicate a level of proficiency in and validity for the testing. A parallel communicative performance. Underhill purpose was to explore the relationship suggests functions as a basis of role-play between communicative performance situations. Concerning the test, Davies opportunities exploited by learners and (1968) suggests that it should accurately proficiency as reflected in performance tests. reflect the underlying syllabus to satisfy his The data was accumulated over a period of criteria for test content validity Well one academic year. Learner evaluation of the documented functional outline sources are program is included. found in The Threshold Level (Van Ek, 1975) and Wilkins (1972, 1973, 1974, 1976). The Outline of Learning and Assessment Threshold Level was developed for the Procedure Council of Europe as an international During lesson time, learner-groups standard level for language learning. worked at their own pace and level, selected According to Bachman (1990), evidence CD-ROM based video clips, predicted then to support the way a test is used can be practised communicative content, identified grouped in three categories: content communicative aims, then employed them relevance, criterion relatedness, and in self-created situations and requested meaningfulness of construct. Brown (1988) assessment. concurs with these categories. Morrow In Table 1 .l and 1.2, the two-level (1979) stresses the importance of content, outline of course functions is displayed. For construct, and predictive validity. Morrow comparison, the six main function categories values the use of ‘performance tests’ in the for the Threshold Level (Van Ek, 1975) are communicative context. He is concerned illustrated in Table 2, alongside the numbers that performance be tested as an integrated of the present study units possessing occurrence, pointing out that testing discrete corresponding functions. items demolishes this integrity The criterion-referenced performance Reliability and validity can be analysed tests, approximately three-minutes in through statistical studies. However, as duration, focused on the communicative Brown (1988) points out, of the two main aim and thus the functions of the unit. categories of language test - norm- Twenty-five xts of role-cards outlined test referenced and criterion-referenced -the situations and tasks, and embedded latter is less accommodating to statistical information gaps rendered communication study A criterion-referenced test is typically meaningful. Successfully accomplishing the used to measure what learners have test task would signify achievement of the achieved with reference to a criterion level communicative aim and of a performance which defines the ability objectives of a unit criteria. Each learner, in a pair of testees, of study or of a course of study. It is received one of two role-cards. Testee pairs therefore conceivable that if learners have were synonymous with learner pairs and succeded they could all score full marks. the task was acted out while the teacher However, without a dispersion of scores, listened and scored. 120 In the Classroom Table 1 Outline of Course Functions Level One Unit Title Functions 1-01 Introduction introduce self & discuss itinerary/ purpose, describe possessions l-02 Information express/inquire about wants/preference, inquire about availability & request further information 163 Food express/inquire about wants/preference, inquire about availability AK request further information & choose 1-04 Home identify relationship/ownership, express pleasure/liking l-05 Inclusive ask about/describe occupation & offer/request refreshment Table 1.2 Outline of Course Functions Level Two Unit Title Functions 2-01 Arrival asking/giving personal information 2-02 Information finding satisfactory accommodation 2-03 Hotel checking-in/giving information 2-04 Restaurant complaining 2-05 Bar discuss intentions/plans 2-06 Estate Agency describing location 2-07 Apartment talk about lifestyle/accommodation 2-08 Appliance Shop discuss habits/routines 2-09 Home talk about a sequence of past events 2-10 Telephoning discuss who you know/remember/forget 2-11 Telephoning discuss quantity/duration/distance 2-12 Post Office ask/explain procedures 2-13 Restaurant compare/evaluate things done/seen 2-14 Clothing Shop talk about wants concerning undetermined object/quantity/ person/place 2-15 Pharmacy explain/advise someone with a problem 2-16 Home talk of things done/seen 2-17 Bookshop compare things/people/places 2-18 Cafe talk about intentions/wants/desire, periods of time past/future 2-19 Bank talk about getting things done/things already done/ accomplished 2-20 School interviewing/talking about past/what was happening at a given time 121 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Table 2 Comparison of Threshold Functions and Course Functions Threshold Function Course Function Level 1 Level 2 imparting and seeking 1, 4 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 16, 20 factual information expressing and finding out 3, 5 10, 19 intellectual attitudes expressing and finding out 2, 3, 4 2, 4, 5, 13, 14, 17, 18 emotional attitudes expressing and finding out - 4, 14, 17 moral attitudes getting things done - 1, 12, 15, 19 socialising 1 - university learners enrolled alphabetically The tests took the form of situations for one academic year with once a week where learners played roles in particular class frequency totalling 26 classes (39 settings concerning particular topics. For hours). example, the situation in Level 2, Test 1 (Appendix A), put testees in the roles of: receptionist and patient, within the setting Instrument & Procedure Reliability of: a hospital, and a topic of: seeking medical attention. To succeed the testees Test-retest data, shown in Table 3.1, was needed to perform the functions which had examined for normal distribution, equal been practised, identified, and exponentially variance and linearity. Test-retest reliability recreated during lesson time. (stability) was estimated using nine pairs of The scoring principle was indicated to test scores from repeated tests and learners in a procedure guide as follows: calculating a reliability coefficient with the Pearson product-moment correlation 1 communication was meaningful and coefficient. lntra-rater reliability would be grammatically correct: 2 points for indicated by the same correlation. Results each section appear in Table 3.2. 2 communication was meaningful but contained grammatical errors:1 point for each section Table 3.1 3 communication was meaningless: 0 Performance Test-Retest Data points for each section Level Test Retest Interval % % in weeks The scoring method attempted to reduce the number of items the assessor 1-l 80 80 2 needed to keep track of during the test l-2 60 70 1 (Underhill, 1987). The method also 13 80 70 15* attempted to reduce the need and influence 2-l 100 100 2 of subjective judgment and help keep the 2-2 60 80 15, functional target in focus. During a test the 2-2 80 90 15* assessor would not be aware of the test 2-3 80 90 11* status, i.e., first test or retest. Results were 2-3 80 90 11* announced to individual testees at the end 2-3 100 100 11* of the test. 80 90 Method SD 13.3 10.7 * = includes 10 week summer break Subjects Twenty-four mixed gender first year 122 In the Classroom Table 3.2 Table 4 Performance Test-Retest Correlation Performance Score and Cloze Score Correlation Dependent (X) 2 & Independent variable (Y) r r Dependent (X) & Independent variable (Y) r r 2 (X) Performance Test Scores (X) Performance test & (Y) Retest scores: 0.88 0.77 scores and (Y) Cloze: 0.62 0.39 p <..05, df = 7. p <.05, df = 22. Validation Table 5 1. Content validity, (a) the ability domain Performance Quantity, Performance Score, was based on the functional course outline; and Cloze Score Correlation (b) test method facets (the setting and procedure) were evaluated, and (c) the Dependent (X) & degree to which test task represented the Independent variable (Y) r r 2 ability domain was evaluated. This (X) Performance quantity evaluation was facilitated by the specific and (Y) performance scores: 0.41 0.17 focus and limited nature of tests. (X) Performance quantity 2. Criterion validity implies correlation with and (Y) Cloze: 0.51 0.26 a validated test, and is here subsumed p <.05, df = 22. under construct validity. 3. Construct validity is operationalized with construct as: the proficiency to perform in a Results defined language function area. Learners in Test-retest Reliability the current study were additionally given In the performance score test-retest two cloze tests, one in each semester. correlation study (Table 3.1 & 3.2), the Performance test score and cloze score correlation coefficient r = 0.88, was scattergrams were examined for normal significant at p<.05, df =7. The coefficient of distributions and linearity, The Pearson determination r squared = 0.77. The product-moment correlation coefficient was estimate for intra-rater reliability results used and the results are shown in Table 4. from the same correlation coefficient, r = 0.88. This correlation gives a significant, Performance Quantity and Performance high estimate of test-retest reliability. Score Correlation Likewise intra-rater reliability is high. The two interval scales of performance scores and performance quantity (i.e. how Validity many tests learners sought to take) were In the performance test score and cloze analysed for correlation. The Pearson score correlation study (Table 4) the pmduct-moment correlation coefficient was correlation coefficient r = 0.62, significant at used and the results are shown in Table 5. p <.05, df = 22: A medium estimate of the correlation between two variables Evaluation concerning construct validity. An evaluation by learners was conducted at the end of each semester. Performance Quantity and Performance Relevant anonymously supplied Score Correlation information concerning testing is presented The correlation coefficient r = 0.41 is in the results. low and indicates a weak but significant relationship between the two variables at p <.05, df = 22. The correlation coefficient r = 0.51 between performance quantity and cloze scores is fairly low and indicates a weak to medium, significant relationship 123 On JALT96: Crossing Borders between the two variables at p <.05, df = 22. these studies. I also thank the students who The coefficient of determination, r squared, provided data, without whom the study estimates the extent to which the two would have been impossible. I am also variables overlap; 17% and 26%. grateful to colleagues for their support. Errors remain my own. Evaluation Learners were asked specifically References whether measuring their oral English ability Bachman, L. F. (1990). Fundamental in the computer laboratory was effective. considerations in language testing. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Learners answered on a scale of 1-5, low- Brown, J. D. (1988). Understanding research in high estimate. First semester the means were second language learning. Cambridge: 3.58, and second semester they were 3.79. Cambridge University Press. Davies, A. (1968). (ed.) Language testing Conclusion symposium. Oxford: Oxford University Results of test-retest reliability and Press. intra-rater reliability studies present high Hughes, A. (1989). Testing for language estimates suggesting tests were reliable. The teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge correlation of performance quantity and University Press. cloze score also offers a fair estimate of Milward, M. (1993). Nova City. (CD-ROM construct validity. Along with content software) Tokyo: Nova Information Systems. validity this suggests reasonable confidence Morrow, K. (1979). Communicative in test validity. language testing: revolution or That 17% of performance score overlaps evolution? In C. J. Brumfit and K. with performance quantity may be grounds Johnson (Eds.), The communicative for further investigation. The estimated approach to language teaching (pp 143- closer relationship, of 26%, in overlap 157). Oxford: Oxford University Press. between performance quantity and cloze Painter, C. (1995). Developing oral sustains the possibility that performance communication using computers: quantity does support underlying aspects of computer assisted language learning. proficiency. Administration, 2 (3), 109-150. From the perspective of testing, with an Seliger, H. W. and Shohamy, E. (1989). average of eight tests taking place per lesson Second language research methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press. in addition to pedagogic assistance, learners Underhill, N. (1987). Testing spoken language. sometimes had to compete for the chance to Cambridge: Cambridge University test, possibly dampening the positive effects Press. of autonomy. Nevertheless, learners Van Ek, J. A. (1975). The threshold level. benefited from immediate knowledge of Oxford: Pergamon Press. their assessment rather than having to wait Wilkins, D. A. (1972). Grammatical, until the end of the semester. Further situational and notional syllabuses. In research could include self testing by Proceedings of the Third International learners, thus avoiding any impediment Congress Of Applied Linguistics, caused by the test event. Copenhagen 1972, Julius Groos Verlag, Whether the tests, following soon after Heidelberg. practice, could measure assimilated ability, Wilkins, D. A. (1973). An investigation into linguistic and situational content of the needs further investigation. However, common core in a unit-credit system. learners’ perceptions of the effectiveness of Strasbourg: Council of Europe. measuring their ability increased. Moreover, Wilkins, D. A. (1974). Notional syllabuses the washback effect of testing was positive. and the concept of a minimum adequate grammar. In Corder and Acknowledgments Roulet (Eds.), Linguistic insights in I would like to thank Dr. Thomas Robb, applied linguistics. AlMAV/Didier Chairman, English Dept., Kyoto Sangyo Wilkins, D. A. (1976). Notional syllabuses. University and Dr. John Shillaw of the Oxford: Oxford University Press. Language Centre, Tsukuba University for readings and comments on earlier stages of 124 In the Classroom Appendix A Level 2 Test 1 Student A: You are Jess Brown, a photographer living in New York. You ate some food in a cheap restaurant last night but now you feel sick. You have just arrived at the reception of Central Hospital. You would like some medicine. L2 01 Student B: You are Jo Francis, a receptionist at Central Hospital. when new patients arrive you must get their name, address, profession and age. You should then tell them to sit down and wait for the doctor. L2 01 125 On JALT96: Crossing Borders 126 Section Four Using Technology in the Classroom On JALT96: Crossing Borders Concept-Acquisition: Tapping the Internet for Ideas Jack Kimball Miyazaki Medical College Introduction complementary and more often contrary The influence of electronic media on influences of behaviorism and college English teaching has been greatly constructivism. accelerated by technological innovations Behaviorist theories of B.F. Skinner available through the Internet. What are (1968, 1971) are based upon learning as these innovations, and why should we care? observable change (behavior). Change First, some definitions: The Internet is a results from an individual’s response to technology somewhat like a phone line that environmental events (stimuli), and this connects computers; the now-familiar behavior produces overt consequences such worldwide web (WWW) is a popular as defining a word or solving a discrete protocol within the Internet that links data pmblem. When stimulus-response (S-R) from one computer to another. Together, the patterns are reinforced (rewarded), the Internet and WWW are the means through individual is conditioned to respond. SR which we connect with new media for the approaches for teaching L2 foster repetition, L2 classroom: on-line texts, graphics, audio/ memorization, and “response” to bits of video elements, e-mail, video conferencing, language - isolated words and phrases or and the like. stand-alone passages often divorced from As far as benefits of the technology, I applicable situation or purpose. Limits to want to suggest that the Internet and new rote memorization and decontextualized media (a) grant students more turns for response notwithstanding, behaviorist taking language practice, (b) promote a approaches achieve defined goals according questioning mind and deeper processing of to measurable criteria like maximizing the information, and (c) help bring about mean performance of a class and minimiz- expanded cycles of learning. To spell out the ing its performance variance (Atkinson, why as well as the how of these benefits, it 1972). Accordingly, teaching and learning will be helpful to concentrate, first, on processes can be rationalized into replicable theory and, second, on practical examples. syllabi and tests. It is important to note that SR and operant conditioning (OC) are at the very Theory? roots of first- and second-generation A central challenge in adapting Internet computer-aided instruction, and, in fact, media is to situate such practice within a continue to pertain to pedagogy generally lucid framework of language learning and, more specifically, to applications of theory. By definition, current deployment of electronic media in course design. OC, for Internet-generated materials for language example, is widely used in programmed instruction is in its infancy. Nonetheless, learning, and hence it is commonplace in language teachers’ early experience with educational computing. OC occurs in technologies like the Internet resonates with graduated frames of question and answer; salient ideas debated among developmental learners receive immediate feedback; psychologists, namely, the sometimes questions are arranged so responses are 128 Using Technology in the CIassroom likely to be correct and thus positively development. In the case of college classes, reinforced (Markle, (1969). This practice can one way students can break with their be concatenated into drills, dialogues, overly-conditioned patterns of memorizing scripted routines, and so forth. The learner is to become immersed in subject matter like “graduates” into longer and longer frames literature, economics, business administra- of OC, for example, covering a whole tion, medicine, etc. Here, Internet-generated textbook. materials can be flexibly arrayed to engage Behaviorist approaches work in initial students with topics and cognitive tasks stages of L2 development, but behaviorism relevant to students’ professional futures. as a psychological theory cannot account for Such an immersion elevates pedagogy from cognitive development in L2. More mere language training to the cultivation of important, behaviorist approaches cannot language for acquiring new concepts. inform us on how to move from a focus on To define “concept” informally, the language to a focus on concepts, the term incorporates far more than learning languagebased building blocks of cognition vocabulary. Rather, a concept is a matrix of and psychological development. For this, associated meanings and experiences we turn to constructivism. enriched by language, practical tasks, and To envision the constructivist approach, other mental operations. With regard to imagine the learner engaged in practices acquiring new concepts, through judicious that do not reward or punish isolated use of data gathered from Internet media, responses, but require the learner to figure teachers and students can avail themselves out what she or he needs and then to of material to “construct” appropriate proceed “constructing” ways to do it, subject matter. In aggregate, subject matter making meaning from stimuli by way of can be pitched toward higher level inquiry, prior experience (Bruner, 1990). Lev or, internalization and acquisition of Vygotsky refers to this meaning-making as concepts, by keeping in mind the following “internalization,” a theoretical figure that hypothesized axioms related to moves the notion of language development constructivism. far beyond passive intake or memorizing (as typified by behaviorist theory). Vygotsky 1. Ideally, learning activities provide also uses the term “transform” -that is, the multiple wrsuectives of content learner transforms a stimulus, such as a new (Spiro, Feltovitch, Jacobson and vocabulary item, from the social setting Coulson, 1992). where it originates (Vygotsky, 1978; Wertsch, 1985). The learner thus internalizes vocabu- 2. Activities avoid oversimplifying lary, for example, by way of both construct- content but support context- ing its content and reconstructing its social dependent knowledge (Spin, and form. Jehng, 1990). Further, the learner internalizes both content and form -taking in the meaning 3. The use of case-based instruction of a vocabulary item, to extend our initial emphasizes internalized construction example - by way of creating a “best of concepts (Jonassen, Ambruso and guess” approximation of its meaning. The Olesen, 1992). learner does this by (a) cross-referencing the item with other acquired items (constructing 4.The deeper the processing the content) and (b) placing the vocabulary item better, that is, activities should within a range of potential concepts, taking incorporate visuals and other aids for contextual clues from the social setting making associations (Craik and (reconstructing form). Lockhart, 1972). What about the Internet? 5. Activities should encourage the SQ3R formula: survevine questioning, Materials culled from Internet media reading, recalling and reviewing constitute an ideal point of departure for constructivist approaches that invite concept materials under study (O'Neil, 1978; Schmeck, 1986). 129 On JALT96: Crossing Borders I’ll set aside generalized accounts of featuring the characters written about in the how these axioms and corollaries are quite article). All of these elements, the online commonly in play in the Internet classroom text, graphics, links to other texts, and links - corollaries such as how learning activities to videos constitute a unit of interrelated via the Internet trigger collaboration and data to deepen our engagement and in- provide learners with the “glue of physical crease ways for us to encode the essential context” (Eggebrecht et al., 1996). But as I information. continue with samples of my own experi- Regarding my recent experience ments using Internet-generated materials, I teaching via the Internet, I will refer to a set will refer to many of these points. of files or texts I developed over the last year by, among other means, gathering and Cases in practice adapting materials procured on-line. That is, Earlier I proposed that the Internet and I have compiled files of information for new media, such as e-mail and online texts, teaching and learning via the Internet, and help promote a questioning mind, increase in turn, via the Internet I have “published” students’ participation, and widen and these files, which are accessed and read (and deepen cycles of learning - cycles that available for appropriation and adaptation) might incorporate, for instance, reading by my students and others worldwide. online texts, journal writing via e-mail, the Let me set up my teaching strategy by teacher’s and others’ reading and comment- sketching some background. I work with ing on journal entries online, in-class bright second-year medical students. They discussion augmented by Internet graphics come to class in groups of 2.5 with some and/or video conferencing and so on. experience using a computer - some have a Internet-generated media encourage higher great deal of experience - though very few mental processing, then, via a dynamic mix have done much computing in English. In of elements, a toolkit of interactivity to help terms of computer resources, they and 1 students learn more. In this context, the work in a newly equipped lab where the basic teaching tool for the English classroom ratio is approximately two Macintosh is the online text whose advantages may computers for every student. include not only reading matter, but also the In brief, the text I designed, ‘Topics in mix of video/audio and other elements to Medical English“ 130 Using Technology in the Classroom context to encode vocabulary and apply Internet. It follows that the teacher takes on anatomical information. In sum, students new roles as media-specialist and pilot-and- move from skeletal vocabulary the bare curator of data in appropriate forms. Here is bones (conceptually and literally), to a an example of such piloting, suggestive of detailed description of a human condition! one future outcome of college language In this way, processing technical information teaching, although this is not an account of that may have led students to mere memo- an L2 class, but of an engineering class at rizing leads to analyzing data more deeply Rensselear Polytechnical Institute: and more flexibly Similarly, a file on cardiovascular Instead of large lectures supple- vocabulary leads to case-based “Heart mented with tutorials and labs, Topics,” articles that extend the lexicon so students attend each class for fewer that students can start to apply vocabulary hours per week, but in smaller, to contextdefined problems. These “Heart more concentrated sessions. Topics” feature a variety of files, such as the Professors monitor students following “Women’s Issues”: changes in working together on computers, cholesterol during post-operative rehabilita- breaking to give minilectures when tion, gender and therapy, the estrogen factor, students get stuck on the same etc. Students not only read these articles, problem. The goal is mastery of they also follow links to other data associ- concepts, not memorization of a ated with these topics. Their reading of the body of knowledge. (Arenson, Internet texts is supplemented by numerous 1996) opportunities to internalize the content and contextual form of the information they are Many of us will soon be moving our trying to comprehend. These opportunities English classes into the computer lab, or, include frequent turn-taking in class alternatively, moving computers into the discussion and debate, shared dialogues in English classroom. Even now, though, we the review of texts (fact-checking, for can take advantage of the Internet - with or example), and impromptu group- without direct student access to computers. conferencing while writing up their findings In instances where computer availability is from texts and discussion. As well as limited, teachers can provide students with encouraging greater cooperation among “hard copies” of valuable data assembled students -collaborative invention of a sort and organized for concept mastery. When -the Internet-assisted cycle of reading our classes incorporate strategies such as texts, discussion, and writing offers students this, whether or not teachers and students more L2 practice and, over time, creates tap simultaneously into the Internet, we are social and physical contexts for them to tapping into a new mindset, one whose aim better acquire concepts in L2. Additionally, is to transform information into conceptual in the process of probing data mediated by understanding. the Internet, students reveal to themselves how knowledge is constructed -that is, by References the very flexible means they are deploying Arenson, K. (1996). Institute shapes curricu- to master concepts under review. lum in a real-world way. The New York Times. Available: 131 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Eggebrecht, J., Dagenais, R., Dosch, D., & Coulson, R. L., (1992). Cognitive Merczak, N., Park, M., Styer, S., & flexibility, constructivism and Workman, D. (1996). Reconnecting hypertext: Random access instruction the sciences. Eduational Leadership, 53 for advanced knowledge acquisition in (8), 4-8. ill-structured domains. In T. Duffy & D. Jonassen, D., Ambruso, D., & Olesen, J. Jonassen (Eds.), Constructivism and the (1992). Designing hypertext on transfu- technology of instrudion (pp. 112-148). sion medicine using cognitive flexibility Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. theory. Journal of Educational Multimedia Spiro, R. J., & Jehng J. (1990). Cognitive and Hypermedia, 1 (3), 309322. flexibility and hypertext: Theory and Markle, S. (1969). Good frames and bad. New technology for the non-linear and York: Wiley. multidimensional traversal of complex O'Neil, H. R. (1978). Learning strategies. New subject matter. In D. Nix & R. Spiro York: Academic Press. (Eds.), Cognition, education, and multime- Schmeck, R. R. (1986) .Learning styles and dia (pp. 245-294). Hillsdale, NJ: learning strategies. New York: Plenum. Erlbaum. Skinner, B. F. (1968). The technology of Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society. teaching. New York: Appleton-Century- Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Crofts. Press. Skinner, B.F. (1971). Beyond freedom and Wertsch, J.V. (1985). Culture, communication, dignity. New York: Knopf. and cognition: Vygotskian Perspectives. Spiro, R. J., Feltovitch, P. J., Jacobson, M. J., Cambridge University Press. Making Reading More Manageable - The Choice Offered by On-line Newspapers and Magazines Anthony Robins Nagoya Institute of Technology Among material available from the combine an increase in language compe- developing resource of the Internet is a tence with a broadening of knowledge and profusion of on-line newspapers and outlook. Large classes inevitably bring with magazines, many of which are offshoots of them a range of abilities and of interests. printed forms. Others, however, are unique Catering for these requires a striving to offer to the Internet. This article will focus on the students as much choice as possible, ways in which they can be selected and hopefully allowing the situation where, in adapted for use with classes, especially at the words of Simmons, Yonally & Haig university level. It will look at the ways in (1996) it is possible to ‘bestow some of the which manageability can be enhanced, both benefits of smaller classes by breaking them in the sense of making reading more down into manageable and knowable approachable and less difficult to handle, subunits“ (p. 268). and in the sense of easing the organisation Large classes, therefore need to be and integrating of activities. offered choice where it is often absent. Well, Before looking at the sources them- how about coursebooks? Do they not offer selves, the background to university quite adequate sources of reading material? teaching should be briefly considered. Obviously, they have much to offer, but University classes must try to successfully usually do not provide a degree of choice at 132 Using Technology in the Classroom any one point, lack a great enough concern sources offering a wide range of articles, with giving opinions and with communica- thus allowing as wide a choice as possible tive follow-on activities, and can be very from among those. Accessibility through time-sensitive when handling news and choosing sources which are accessible to current affairs related issues. On-line students, in terms of interest and level of sources can offer advantages in these areas difficulty; and accessibility, in terms of time and furthermore provide greater choice taken to physically access and download the merely by countering the “textbook fetish” material. The Internet is often touted as referred to by McAlpine (1995). representing a democratic repository of Additionally, before looking at such material from sources large and small, sources, it is also important to consider why under threat from censorship and commer- choice is so paramount. I, perhaps like many cialization. Still, the major established other native-speaking teachers in Japan, sources win. At the risk of contributing to read relatively little in Japanese. When I do, even greater domination of the media by mainly in the area of a specific hobby “barons,” it has to be admitted that such interest, it appears to be because several sources are buoyed by the greater ease of factors are present. These aid both process- their connections, which give the all- ing and motivation. Firstly, the material is important faster accessibility. They also only available in Japanese. Secondly, content provide a range of material which allows a schemata are more easily activated, as there library of a wide range of interesting articles is a good level of background knowledge of to be steadily built up in readiness for use, the topic. Thirdly, formal schemata are also rather than necessitating too many last more easily activated, as there is good minute searches for something relevant. knowledge of the genre type. While perhaps They do, however, also provide useful and not all of these factors can be supplied in the comprehensive search facilities. large class environment, at least they need The choice of articles themselves is all- to be aimed for. As Horibe (1995) has important. While, from the point of view of reiterated, reading is “a highly complex and activating content schemata, it is perhaps sometimes roundabout problem-solving ideal for students to have a high degree of activity, in which all pieces of information, choice in the articles they read, this may not from knowledge of vocabulary and gram- be possible unless extensive self-study mar to knowledge of the topic, must be facilities are available. A balance has to be brought into play” (p. 181). created to pay heed to Silberstein’s (1994) Horibe has also focussed on the warning that “one might assume that processing strategies of his students. Models students can therefore read only what they of such processes have progressed from know. This is not the case. It would be a earlier diametrically opposed “topdown” disservice to rob students of the opportunity and ‘bottom-up” models to more interactive to learn through reading” (p. 8). As 1 will syntheses. However, his research confirms show, reading would however seem to be expectations that bottom-up processing more successful when it impinges on one or dominates among his students, even among more areas of students’ interests. those who make the greatest use of top- Therefore, it is helpful to carry out down processing. Obviously, the potential to surveys both before and after reading. These develop a greater focus on the latter and a can usefully start back with attitudes comparative reduction in the former is also towards reading in general. My survey of going to be desirable when considering the 3rd and 4th year students found that merits of reading material from on-line reading a book (18%) and reading a maga- newspapers and magazines. zine (36%) compared with watching televi- How can the myriad of sources be sion (46%), as their first choice activities, selected? While, as will be shown, students given some spare time. Among sixty 2nd themselves can play a prominent role at the year students starting a Media English stage of choosing specific articles, the course, only sixteen (26.5%) answered that watchwords at the earlier stage of choosing they ever read newspapers in English. Less sources themselves are “breadth” and than 8% of a group of seventy-nine 2nd year “accessibility. " Breadth through choosing Technical English students had ever read 133 On JALT96: Crossing Borders scientific journals in English and addition- before and after material selection. While ally considered writing more important than individual articles have also included reading as a skill for improvement. How- feedback questions on such views, Figure 1 ever, as more than half of the journals in the indicates a more overall and cumulative library of this particular university are in view. Students in this group were invited to languages other than Japanese, there would rank as many of the ten articles as they had seem to be some likelihood of circumstances read, with 1 being given to the most interest- and views changing. More specifically, a ing, 2 to the next most interesting and so on. survey of relative levels of interest in Therefore, those with lower scores were the different technologies among these same mom positively received. While there were students gave some pointers for potentially obviously differences from student to appealing articles. student, the one with the lowest score is The constraints on choice which can be “Future hotels. " Perhaps the brevity of this offered to large classes where Internet access title fails to explain that it is about a compe- is in the hands of the teacher must be tition held for students from various acknowledged. However, she or he can countries, including the two named above, pmvide a certain level of choice, to a degree to design an innovative hotel. It was absent from coursebooks. This can be necessary to combine innovative technology through perhaps offering a choice from with imagination and a strong concern for three different but related articles or through the environment. As recognized in the a choice from a greater number, either on figure, it encompasses three of the catego- the same theme or different themes, and ries. Additionally, it can be seen that those delivering them in the following lesson to which encompass two categories are also match demand. A degree of relationship those which receive the next most positive between the articles, whether they are on the feedback. To an extent at least, it seems to same theme or not, is most useful in facili- show that the more areas of interest are tating the kinds of follow-up activities impinged, the more positive the appeal. which will be referred to later. As well as offering greater choice, on- Taking articles used with a group of 3rd line sources also provide the opportunity for years in this current academic year, what both editing and highlighting text. While were the criteria in their selection? As stated editing may seem attractive, particularly to elsewhere, the chief requirement was to both reduce the reading load contributed by activate background knowledge and also to length, it must bc exercised with care. extend the range of these students’ knowl- Halliday and Hasan’s (1976) concern with edge, outlooks and viewpoints. This was the “texture” and the “unity” of text (p. l-2) largely sought for by looking at familiar acts immediately as a warning. Reducing topics in different environments. These length may also destroy helpful redundancy, topics can be grouped within four catego- where ideas and information are clarified ries: environment, technology, outside and reinforced. In addition, the writer’s interests and university life. The latter two intentions may be effectively corrupted, as categories are obviously applicable to opinions and message are weakened or university students in general. Technology is distorted. In contrast, editing gives the particularly applicable at this university, opportunity to lower the students’ high which specialises in its various fields, and processing load. This can be achieved environmental material is admittedly through some reordering of less than logical selected as an area which demands input, texts and the editing of complex not least to balance the previous category. extratextural references. Reducing length Figure 1 illustrates these categories with may also allow a sharper focus through the themes of each specific article. While it is facilitating a more in-depth understanding not immediately apparent that a different of a shorter text, rather than students having environment is concerned, examples are to resort to a less than positive reliance on “Macdonald’s airliner” (Switzerland), “Car large-scale skimming. Finally, material from sharing” (Scotland) and “Future hotels” on-line sources can be more easily and (USA/Poland). As indicated before, it is rapidly adapted and split to produce important to survey students’ interests both integrated follow-up activities and informa- 134 Using Technology in the Classroom Figure 1 - Levels of interest in articles used from on-line newspaper and magazine sources (3rd year university students). Learner drivers 5 Macdonald’s airliner 3.6 OUTSIDE INTERESTS Unusual food 3.7 Sent into a trance by arcade games 3.5 Pneumatic railways 5 TECHNOLOGY Wearable computers 4.9 r ENUIRONMENT I Internet addiction 3 Future hotels 2.8 Car - sharing 3.9 Living at home or away from home 4.5 UNIVERSITY LIFE I tion gap tasks. such as semantic or background knowl- Similarly, the opportunities to highlight edge“ (p. 71). More specifically in relation to text are both simplified and enhanced. highlighting, she notes the Graphic Outline Colour can be added or, more economically, system (p. 151), developed in Australia to use can be made of underlining italicising, ensure that students study the actual and the computer’s range of fonts to arrangement of a text in advance. Highlight- provide guidance to students. Such direc- ing can certainly achieve this. tion can be achieved through highlighting Reading does not exist in a vacuum sections of text to give a clearer indication of within a course. While reading material article layout or through highlighting from on-line sources may mainly take place directional items such as conjunctions. As as homework, follow-up class activities with editing, such means may be open to need to be integrated. When opinions are criticism as providing a form of crutch stressed as the focus of responses to the which would be difficult for the student to articles, follow-up activities can be organ- throw away when eventually dealing with ised and integrated more smoothly. Firstly, unsullied material. However, the diverse the ability to more easily offer several factors and heavy cumulative load involved articles means that activities can be built in processing during reading have already around students explaining and exchanging been indicated, as has the degree of unfa- information about their respective articles. miliarity of authentic reading sources Facilities provided by some on-line sources among university students. Support for for feedback by e-mail also mean that other such load reducing measures as editing and readers’ opinions can be discovered and highlighting is provided by Davies (1995) students’ opinions sent. Secondly, jigsaw who considers that, “when extra time is and information gap activities can be more used for visual processing or word identifi- rapidly created by the greater ease of editing cation, there is less time available for and adaptation explained above. At the attention to other sources of information, 135 On JALT96: Crossing Borders simplest level, a longer article can be split Opportunities for future development into two more manageable halves, with are primarily provided by building up perhaps both retaining the introduction and facilities for greater choice, both through conclusion. Students can then work together access to libraries of material collected from to fill each other in. on-line sources and through greater provi- Criticism may be levelled both that the sion of self-access facilities. Such self-access Internet is not being used to its full interac- facilities give students a greater say in the tive potential and that not enough advan- choice of material and offer more opportuni- tages am offered over traditional printed ties for them to suggest and offer material to sources. While the Internet already offers or be used in courses. Perhaps they will also potentially will offer wider capabilities, I am have the time and patience to pursue and looking at it from the viewpoint of one of discover the more esoteric sources and make many who teaches courses with large classes that aspect more manageable too! and limited contact time. In this environ- ment, no aspect can be allowed to dominate References time to too great an extent and the element Davies, F. (1995). Introducing Reading. of face-to-face communication has to be London: Penguin. preeminent. Similarly, there is a need to Halliday, M. A. K., & Hasan, R. (1976). encompass exposure to a range of types of Cohesion in English. London: Longman. both discourse and genre and articles from Horibe, H. (1995). An Enquiry into Reading newspapers or magazines, whether from Comprehension Strategies through traditional printed or on-line sources, can Think-aloud Protocols. ]ALT ]ournal, only occupy so much time. As to a final 17-2, 180-196. comparison between those two sources, McAlpine, D. (1995). Bring Back the Real quite apart from the greater capabilities to Books Please! The Language Teacher, 19- edit and highlight referred to, on-line 9, 40-42. newspapers and magazines provide the Silberstein, S. (1994). Techniques and Resources opportunity for a far wider range of mate- in Teaching Reading Oxford, New York: rial in non-native speaking and publishing Oxford University Press. locations. Once there is already provision of Simmons, T. L., Yonally, D., & Haig, E. computing facilities, this material is both (1996). Constructive Methods of mom economical and more timely. Dealing with Large Classes. Proceedings of the JALT 1995 International Conference on Language Teaching/Learning. 265-270. 136 Using Technology in the Classroom Computerized Test and Material Production John Bauman Temple University Japan Introduction from a spreadsheet is imported into a word Most teachers prepare material for their processing program, the contents of the classes to supplement or even replace a rows will be separated by a return, or line- commercial textbook. The ability to use ending keystroke. The contents of each cell material customized for the students’ needs on a row will be separated by a tab. These and teacher’s style easily justifies the time settings can be changed and may be spent in material preparation. Information different in some programs. After learning technology is progressing rapidly and this to visualize the results of importing to a provides everchanging options in word processing program, typing into a producing and storing class material. While spreadsheet is as straightforward as typing once the pride of an organized teacher into word processing document. might have been a file cabinet full of typo- The advantage of a spreadsheet is its free ditto masters, now we can store a ability to rearrange elements by cutting, drawerful of handouts on a single floppy copying, pasting and sorting. These are disk, ready to print out and copy for class. ways of moving sections of text. The first But computers have the potential to do three can be done in a word processor by much more than merely replace a filing selecting text and manipulating it. The cabinet. I’d like to describe a further step process is the same in a spreadsheet, with an away from the “file folder" model of important difference. In word processing, material production and storage. the selected area must be consecutive text (as one reads), while in a spreadsheet the Spreadsheets selected area can be adjacent in a left-right A spreadsheet program provides a or an up-down direction. Therefore, one can flexible way to initially put material into a enter different types of data into different computer. Spreadsheets can rearrange and columns and create a page with any combine elements in ways that word combination of types by cutting, copying processors can’t. As computer technology and pasting. advances, the programs and procedures that Sorting is rearranging the order of the I use will change, and different systems cells according to the contents of a specific require different steps to achieve the same row or column. My vocabulary material results. Therefore the discussion here will be spreadsheets are set up with one word per in general terms, though my experience as a row, so I always sort by row. When entire Macintosh owner using Microsoft rows are selected and sorted by a column, applications may show through. I hope the rows move as a unit, so the elements of these ideas will help teachers develop the rows don’t get mixed. Either a portion or processes that work with their own systems. the entire sheet can be sorted. The programs A spreadsheet appears on your screen sorts into numerical or alphabetical order, as a grid of small rectangles. Each rectangle depending on the contents of the column is a cell. Anything can be typed into a cell. that the rows are sorted by. Rows are horizontal lines of cells, columns In my spreadsheets, the words are are vertical lines of cells. Spreadsheets are grouped into units, and one of the columns usually used for mathematical calculation, contains the unit number. When I sort the but they can handle text as well. When text rows by that column, the units are brought . 137 On JALT96: Crossing Borders together. Another column has the part of definitions, to be matched by the student speech. When I sort by that column, all of (figure 1). I make these by grouping word/ the nouns, verbs, etc. are brought together. definition pairs from the desired units and Sorting by a column of random numbers mixing them by sorting by the random will randomize the order of the rows. By number column. Then 1 create the groups of consecutive sorting, you can obtain 6 words/3 definitions by clearing the cells something such as “a random selection of between the groups (to create a blank line) and deleting 3 of the 6 definitions. Then I the nouns from units 6-10.” Select the rows alphabetize the words to eliminate the of units 6-10 and sort them by part of relationship between the words and speech. Then select the nouns and sort the definitions. I end up with a set of groups rows by the random number column. Take like the one in figure 2. I export these groups the top 5 or 15 or however many you need. to a word processing program, adjust the Sorting is a very useful function. tabs and print it. The advantage of using the spreadsheet is that a number of different Using a spreadsheet quizzes can be made easily, but the words I have used spreadsheets to make and definitions only have to be typed once. vocabulary material for several programs Already written tests can be imported with different curriculums. I have a set of into a spreadsheet. The items must be points associated with each word, all or adjusted so that they each occupy a single some of which I can choose to make my line in the word processing program, with students responsible for learning. My tabs at significant points. This can be done spreadsheets include the following by hand, but often the replace function can elements, each in its own column: word, be used to automate the process. If this unit number, part of speech, definition, adjustment is made in word processing, the example sentence, opposite, synonym, resulting spreadsheet will contain one item associated preposition, preposition cloze per row, and can be easily sorted. sentence, cloze sentence, cloze sentence I also use the spreadsheet to keep track answer, open-ended question, and random of what the students are responsible for number. I can use this spreadsheet in several knowing about each word. Sorting by ways. columns that contain opposites, synonyms, First, I can use the text in the cells to collocation etc. will bring all of these make worksheets. The cloze sentences and components together. 1’11 print this as a openended questions can be grouped in the reference and use it when planning class or spreadsheet and then exported to word writing material. processing. They can then be pasted into a worksheet or formatted to make a new Conclusion worksheet. Material from different units can I have been happy with the usefulness be mixed by selecting rows from those units of my spreadsheets. I have adapted and sorting by the random number column. spreadsheets created for one program in New items can be mixed with the old as another by adding relevant information in they are written. As time goes by, the new columns. I have used Japanese and number of items grows, and it becomes English in the same spreadsheet. Recently I possible to produce many different acquired a computer program that drills worksheets for each group of words from students as if they were using flash cards. the same spreadsheet. It’s not necessary to The input to this program must be a text file have each column filled for each word. in a specific format. I was able to easily Sorting by a column will bring all of the arrange questions and answers from my rows with filled cells in that column spreadsheet into the required format. I together. would recommend experimenting with Test items in a spreadsheet are the spreadsheets to any teacher with access to a equivalent of a test bank. Tests can be made computer. The greater initial effort pays off using the same procedures as worksheets. In in the long term. my classes, the weekly quizzes am word/ definition matching quizzes using the format of the levels tests in Teaching and Reference Learning Vocabulary (Nation, 1990, Nation, 1.S.P. (1990) Teaching and Learning Appendix 8, pp. 261-272). These quizzes Vocabulary. New York, NY: Newbury consist of a set of groups of 6 words and 3 House. 138 Using Technology in the Classroom Figure 1 Sample Tests 1 admire 2 colony - to respect and approve of someone or something 3 cup 2 gg$e - completely quiet 6 silent -to learn about a place by travelling through it 1 dozen 2 Operator - twelve ; ;$yfant - a feeling of happiness after an unpleasant feeling 5 throat 6 yield ___ enjoyable; nice figure 2 Spreadsheet Sample Designing genre-based materials to use with videos Damian Lucantonio Josai International University Introduction high-interest videos were introduced and Using videos in the classroom is widely analyzed. Third, the workshop was recognized as an important resource for designed to demonstrate the use of a variety language teaching. The following is an of teaching materials. The following teach- account of a workshop in which participants ing materials were designed from the drew on the influences of genre theory to various video texts: matching activities for examine how teaching materials can be vocabulary, grouping activities for designed for use with videos. First, the vocabulary, and box diagram activities for workshop was designed to show text structure. Finally, a discussion was participants how high interest videos can be conducted to examine the key issues that used effectively in the classroom. A surfing emerged during the workshop. video, a feature movie video, and a rock music video were used. Second, it was Genre theory: a rationale designed to show how an understanding of Genre theory has largely evolved from genre and text structure could be of use to systemic linguistics (Halliday, 1985; language teaching. A range of genres from Halliday & Hasan, 198.5; Martin, 1985). 139 On JALT’96: Crossing Borders Recently, in countries like Australia, it has of the text. Hence, the text structure of a become an important influence in language narrative genre or of a procedure genre is teaching theory and practice (NSW Depart- different to that of an opinion because the ment of School Education, 1994). purpose of each is different. Thus the Genre theory is a functional view of structure of a text (or its generic structure) is language. It looks at how language enables related to its purpose. Making students us to do things for different purposes. The aware of the role of text structure and emphasis is on meaning rather than form exploring how texts work (Derewianka, and how language is involved in the 1990) are regarded as important issues in construction of meaning. Therefore, teaching language as a form of language is seen as a resource for making communication. meaning (Derewianka, 1990, pp. 3-4) rather In genre theory, the construction of texts than a resource for constructing syntactical is considered to be a culturally-specific rules. activity (Halliday & Hasan, 1985). While Because meanings are found within a many cultures need to be able to give text as a whole (Derewianka, 1990, p. 41, opinions or explain how something works, genre theory focusses on the level of the text how they structure their language to do (Martin, 1985). Traditionally, syntactical these things can vary from culture to approaches to language have focussed on culture. For example, the way in which the sentence-level. However, in genre-based opinions are presented in the Japanese approaches to language teaching, the text is language and the Japanese culture are not regarded as being the basic unit of meaning necessarily the same way as they are in (Derewianka, 1990, p. 4) and as such English (Lucantonio, 1996). Yet they are represents the teaching focal point. perfectly appropriate to the Japanese culture A genre is a text that can be either and the Japanese way of doing things. Genre spoken or written and can be described as a theory makes explicit these culturally- staged, goal-oriented, social activity (Martin, specific ways in which language is 1985). In other words, a genre is a text that organized to achieve different purposes. has some kind of structure (or way in which This is considered to be important for its ideas are organized), has a purpose, and students when learning how to performs a social function in any given communicate in a foreign language. society. An example of a spoken text might be the dialog of a casual conversation. A The workshop written text, on the other hand, could be a Introduction newspaper report or a letter to a friend. Initially, five genres that were Thus, teaching students how to construct considered to be common in everyday effective spoken and written texts is language use were introduced to the considered to be important for real-world participants (adapted from Martin, 1985, & communication. Derewianka, 1990). These were then Genre theory also makes explicit the discussed in terms of the purpose of each ways in which language is used for different and the generic structure of each (see purposes, e. g., to inform, describe, argue, Appendix 1). persuade, and so on. In order to achieve Next, an example was given. An these different purposes, text structure (or explanation text from an interview with a the organization of the ideas and the professional surfer was shown, explaining language in a text) is important. For about violence in the water in Hawaii. example, in an opinion text in English, we Participants were then shown how a often start with a proposition, which is teaching material called a box diagram usually supported by reason(s), and then could be constructed based on an analysis of reiterated by a conclusion (Derewianka, the texts generic structure (see Appendix 2). 1990, pp. 70-71). This structure of language Then, a second example was and ideas is considered to be appropriate for introduced. A song was played from a rock the purpose of getting an opinion across video featuring the popular rock band, U2. effectively in English. However, as the Participants were shown how teaching purpose changes, so too does the structure materials could be designed from an 140 Using Technology in the Classroom analysis of the songs generic structure. The thoughts to achieve different purposes. teaching materials were: a matching activity The discussion also focussed on the for vocabulary (see Appendix 3), a grouping need to introduce key vocabulary and activity for vocabulary (see Appendix 4), grammar to the learners before the box and a box diagram activity for main points diagram activity. The matching and group- and generic structure (see Appendix 5). ing materials were seen as a logical step The purpose of all the teaching materi- before the more text-focussed box diagram als, particularly the box diagrams, was to activity Furthermore, the participants make explicit for students the construction agreed that they could clearly recognize the of an explanation genre. key vocabulary that was necessary to be taught (rather than every word) after an Participants task analysis of the texts generic structure. The participants were then given four The notion of using the text as a model texts from the feature movie, The Godfather for the task to be performed was also (Part 1). Each text represented a different discussed. In a learner-centered classroom, genre from different segments of the movie. providing students with whole, real-life The genres were: a procedure, an tasks to perform is considered to be explanation, an exposition, and a discussion. important in facilitating communication In pairs, the participants were then (Nunan, 1988, 1989). It could be argued that asked to do the following: if students can produce a complete text then 1. Watch each video segment (twice) they are indeed producing a whole, real-life and identify the genre and the task. Designing teaching materials from a generic structure of each text. text analysis was then seen to be an 2. Design a box diagram activity for effective way of providing learners with a each text based on the generic model for both the language and the task to structure analyses. be performed. 3. Suggest additional teaching materials Concerns were raised that the generic that could be designed based on the structure seemed to be too prescriptive and generic structure analyses. too rigid. It was suggested, however, that genre-based approaches are not about Discussion providing prescriptive recipes. Rather, they The following points represented the are concerned with providing information key issues that emerged during the about the development of effective texts for discussion, upon completion of the particular purposes (Derewianka, 1990, p. workshop task. 5). Genre-based approaches look for general In general, the participants were able to patterns of language that are typical of a accurately identify the genre and generic particular genre and not for hard and fast structure of each text without much formulas (Derewianka, 1990, p. 83). It was difficulty They were also able to describe recommended that teachers analyze a text how box diagrams and other teaching for what they think it is doing rather than materials could be designed based on their try to sqeeze it into a rigid formula. It was analyses. This would suggest that the also mentioned that all texts are not model participants were able to cope with the texts. While texts do have certain workshop task. Unfortunately, time did not compulsory elements that help them permit the participants to complete the achieve their purposes, some elements are design of all the materials. more compulsory and more optional than Most participants agreed that designing others; therefore, there is a degree of box diagram materials based on an analysis flexibility in the way in which language and of text structure would assist learners to ideas are organized in a text. Furthermore, a communicate for different purposes. They text might be a mixture of genres, either were seen as a useful way of keeping deliberately or carelessly, and could include learners focussed and “to the point. " By additional elements. However, using a text providing them with a structure for a with a well organized text structure was particular genre, learners could recognize seen by the participants to be important in how to organize their language and their providing learners with an effective lan- 141 On JALT96: Crossing Borders guage learning model. It was recommended Halliday, M.A.K. (1985). An introduction to that teachers should consider the structure functional grammar. London: Edward of the text and not just the topic, when Arnold. choosing texts to use in the classroom. Halliday, M.A.K. & Hasan, R. (1985). Finally, designing lessons around Language, context and text: Aspects of genres was seen as a useful way in selecting language in a social-semiotic perspective. manageable and meaningful segments from Victoria: Deakin University Press. a video. Knowing what to look for and what Lucantonio, D. (1996, Oct. 6). Thinking in to choose from a video was considered to be English is the key. The Japan Times, p. 18 an important issue by the participants. In Martin, J.R. (1985). Teaching factual uniting: this regard, identifying segments based on Exploring and challenging social reality. genres was seen as being a useful way of Victoria: Deakin University Press. guiding teachers in choosing what to teach New South Wales Department of School and how much to teach from a video. Education. (1994). K -6 handbwkof grammar. Sydney: New South Wales References Department of Education. Derewianka, B. (1990). Exploring how texts Nunan, D. (1988). The learner-centered work. Victoria: PETA. 34, 5, 70-71, 82- curriculum. Cambridge: Cambridge 83. University Press. Nunan, D. (1989). Designing tasks for the communicative classroom. Glasgow: Cambridge University Press. Appendix 1: Five common genres Genre Purpose Structure Narrative To entertain; to tell (Abstract) ^ Orientation a story ^ Complication ^Evaluation ^ Resolution ^ (Coda) To instruct how to Goal ^ Steps do something Explanation To explain how or why Phenomenon ^ Explanation something occurs sequence Exposition To persuade by arguing Proposition ^ Reasons one side of an issue ^ Conclusion Discussion To persuade by arguing Proposition ^ Reasons for for and against an issue Reasons against ^ Conclusion (adapted from Martin, 1985 & Derewianka, 1990) 142 Using Technology in the Classroom Appendix 2: Box diagram activity Appendix 3 : Matching activity for vocabulary On JALT96: Crossing: Borders Appendxi 4: Grouping activity for vocabulary Place the words below into the correct group. The first one is done for you. dust clouds; Appendix 5: Box diagram activity Point 1 Point 2 Point 3 - Message lrmin Pml u Message = chorus (main point) Message Using Technology in the Classroom Content Video in the EFL Classroom Michael Furmanovsky Ryukoku University The growing acceptance of content content courses or seminars, especially in teaching within EFL as a motivator for the field of Area Studies. At the same time it students has led in recent years to the is self-evident that these classes, made for a creation of native speaker-taught content homogenous group of students living in courses in the English language depart- their own country, cannot and should not be ments of many universities. While some identical to those in a foreign institution universities restrict these classes to higher itself. level students, many others are open to Some useful general guidelines for students at the intermediate level. Such designing and adapting content teaching classes are necessarily different from so- methods used in foreign institutions to the called content-based courses offered to ESL Japanese university environment, are students in overseas universities. The latter outlined by Halvorsen and Gettings (1996). are designed for intermediate and upper- The authors emphasize the “unique oppor- intermediate students who hope to enter tunities” that arise when teaching EFL overseas junior colleges or universities. students from the same cultural and linguis- Brinton, Snow And Wesche (1989) have tic background. In this environment, they published useful guidelines for teaching suggest, it is particularly important to find EFL (or “sheltered”) content-based teaching an appropriate balance of content and courses to foreign students studying in an language. In their effort to find this balance, English speaking country. But how can these the authors utilize a wide variety of non- guidelines be adapted to content based traditional sources, such as posters, travel classes in Japan, in which only a minority of brochures, maps and magazine articles to students in the class intend to study in an stimulate interest in students who might not overseas university? respond to a conventional textbook. Both also devote considerable time to developing Content Teaching in Japan mini-lectures at the appropriate level, and The reasons for the growing trend place an emphasis on project work and peer- towards content teaching in Japan are too edited written assignments. Video, too, is numerous and complex to discuss hem. mentioned by the authors as an example of They are clearly evidenced, however, in the a visual component in their content classes, large increase in students who plan to study, but the general nature of their article does or have already returned from studying, not allow for a discussion of how to best overseas. These students, as well as many make use of what may arguably be the others who hope to use English in their single most important resource in content work after graduation, make up a small but teaching in the Ll culture. significant minority of able and genuinely At its best, video can inform and interested students capable of handling a stimulate students in a way that no lecture, content based course. It is thus now possible however well delivered and thought out, in many universities and colleges - most of can do. Indeed it seems self-evident that which are now dismantling their General video could be an effective component of Education departments in accordance with almost any content class. At the same time, Mombusho guidelines - to create genuine however, its tendency to induce passivity in 145 On JALT96: Crossing Borders students, and the difficulty of adapting it to video in question is to be useful both for the EFL classroom, leave it wide open to language and content. These can summa- misuse. Indeed even the most enthusiastic rized as follows: proponents of using authentic video in the EFL classroom would probably accept that Documentaries the vast majority of materinl cannot be Documentaries should be used only if easily or effectively applied to classroom the visuals am dense, varied and can stand activity Put another way, the selection alone. In most cases they should have process for choosing suitable authentic English or Ll captions. This would apply to video and then adapting it to the approprl- most American documentaries, which have ate level of the students is far from obvious, encoded closed captions, and also to some and is invariably both time consuming and overseas programs shown on Japanese unscientlflc. It is for this reason, of course, satellite television. In general, interviews that commercially made EFL video courses should be edited out or considerably are produced, although this material too, shortened and the total length of any while linguistically appropriate, has many segment shown should be less than a third drawbacks, most notably its artificiality and of the total class time. Documentaries amateurishness. Like any other skill then, should be used largely as a supplement to a using authentic video effectively in EFL, not (text based) unit on a particular topic and only requires some experience in the basic students should have done some back- techniques of video use and materials ground reading or preparation on the topic creation, but also demands a certain intui- before watching. This may involve activities tion and a knowledge of students’ own built around the relevant vocabulary, but educational background. While there is no may also include an effort to activate the shortcut to achieving this expertise, the students’ individual Ll schemata developed following guidelines may at least help to in their high school studies of this topic. lessen problems in the video selection and Finally, and most importantly, interactive adaption process. and communicative information gap activities and assignments, similar to those Suggestions for selecting and custom- used in conversation or in some cases, in izing content videos reading classes, should be designed for Most of the ideas outlined below are lower intermediate and intermediate adapted from other academic disciplines, students. especially history and sociology. Students of these disciplines, however, are principally Movies expected to absorb, analyze and process the Entire movies should not be shown in information in the video. This information is class, but carefully selected extracts from often presented in the form of documenta- subtitled movies which deal informatively ries which frequently use historical or with a topic or issue can be edited and used contemporary footage, together with as part of a larger unit. In addition, students interviews and explanatory narratives, in can select from a teacher-approved list of order to illuminate an event or help define movies with a strong cultural or historical an issue. Commercials, government propa- content and watch it for homework over an ganda and public service announcements extended period. Among the many assign- are more commonly used in sociology or ments that could accompany this is a psychology, and in this case students are “movie notetaking” diary in which students usually asked to analyze the images and take notes about what they have learned, words for their subtexts and assumptions, both with respect to content and language. rather than their actual content. Yet, in both (Furmanovsky, 1994) Films should have cases the main expectation of students is a either Japanese or English subtitles. Student written analytical report or verbal com- “movie notetaking diaries” and carefully ments in a discussion setting. While some of edited extracts from the films can be the these expectations may apply to an EFL basis for class activities. content class in the Ll environment, several modifications are obviously needed if the 146 Using Technology in the Classroom TV commercials interesting for students. Some of these Perhaps the biggest advantage of sources have been compiled in documenta- commercials is that they are relatively easy ries dealing with these issues, such as Rosie to find and prepare, in part because they are the Riveter (Women in World War II), short, succinct, and, most critically for and Ethnic Notions (Stereotypes of African- content teaching, often have have a cultural Americans).l component. From a purely linguistic point of view, they frequently use idioms, expres- Examples of Activities for Content sions and double meanings which are of Teaching Through Video interest to students of colloquial English. Since the content videos recommended Like any other video source, however, hem vary in almost every detail, suggestions commercials have their limitations for for adapting them to the EFL environment content teaching. Relatively few commer- can best be done on an individual basis, by cials actually have a narrative or tell a category “story.” Finally the need to sell a product often tends to narrow the content and Documentary language of the commercial. Yet some The Flapper: This half hour highly visual commercials work extremely well in the documentary of 1920’s American women content classroom because they reveal clear who adopted the attitudes and style of the cultural differences in behavior or thinking so-called Flapper was edited down to 15 and advertise something that would never minutes by removing most of the interviews be advertised in the students‘ own country, used by the film makers. Prior to viewing e.g. a political Party or a certain type of this closed-captioned video, students read a product. Some commercials also refer to two-page segment in an American junior (and then sometimes make fun of) a stere- high school textbook for homework. While watching, they are asked to note down how otyped image or character from the L2 the Flappers differed from their Victorian cuIture. predecessors, and are then given a multiple choice question which asks them what new Public service announcements and govern- habits or lifestyles of middle class women ment propaganda Flappers were illustrated in the video. Six Unlike commercials, public service correct and four incorrect (but lausible) anouncements do not sell a particular answers are given. However, a ost all of company’s product or service. Usually made the answers can be derived from the visuals by the government or a non-profit organiza- alone. tion, they give advice or information about an issue. Public service announcements can Movie Civilization (D.W Griffith, 1916): This is an give an additional insight into the culture of antiwar film made by D.W Griffith in 1916 the country in which they were made, since at the time of the mass loss of life in the they sometimes reflect that culture’s societal battlefield trenches of Belgium and France. goals, as well as its sense of morality. Thus A two- minute extract from the film is used while they can be prepared by the instructor in a documentary (An Ocean Apart) on in much the same way as a commercial, British-American relations during World students should be asked to focus on whom War I. No effort is made to go into the the announcement is aimed at and what details of World War I in class, but a brain- behavioral change is being promoted. storming session can be used to pool the Government propaganda films, documenta- students‘ background knowledge on the ries and old movies with clear stereotypes conflict, and this is usually sufficient to can be used to give insight into changes in ascertain the basic information. Students watch an edited closed-captioned documen- attitudes towards issues such as race, tary (supplemented by a short lecture) on alleged national character, women’s roles, the lead up to U.S. intervention in World and a wide range of other issues. Since War I and the role of the early Hollywood propaganda has usually been at its most studios and directors as reflectors of Ameri- extreme during war, video made during the can public opinion. They are then told that era of the two world wars is particularly they will see a movie made by the leading director of the day, at a time when most 147 On JALT96: Crossing. Borders Amerians and the U.S. President opposed dren in America’s inner cities are menaced any intervention. The movie deals with a by drugs and crime. Viewers are asked to war between two unnamed European contribute to, or become involved in, other kingdoms which represent two real coun- organizations which are working to help tries. In the scene shown, there is an antiwar such children. A 30-second segment on demonstration in one of these countries and “Mad Dads,” a group of African-American the king puts the leader of this antiwar men who superficially resemble gang demonstration into jail. The king visits the members, but who are in fact African- leader in jail to make fun of him, but while American fathers who patrol their mocking him, he has a vision or dream in neighborhoods to monitor drug sellers, is which the antiwar leader becomes the ghost used to help break stereotypes that may be of Jesus Christ and guides the king through held by students about African-American the battlefields of the war where so many fathers and the African-American family in people have died. The king now realizes his general. awful mistake and ends the war. Students are given three written interpretations of Conclusion what the “message” or moral of this scene is The appeal of video seems to cross most and they are asked to choose the correct one. boundaries that can be found in the EFL In order to do so, they must identify the classroom, including student level, age, image of Christ and interpret his gestures to culture, topic and teaching environment. the King. Some relatively difficult but short Given some of the challenges inherent in text (of the type usually found in silent creating an appropriate level content course films) also gives some clues. This exercise for intermediate level students in the L1 closely matches those that students might be environment, the use of edited and custom- asked to complete in a reading class, but the ized authentic video in combination with visual element considerably increases the the kind of communicative and interactive interest and motovation level. activities which work well in the EFL classroom-based activities seems rational. TV Commercial Indeed, together with the approach outlined The Futureville Press (1957): This was made by Halvorsen and Gettings, it seems as by the National Manufacturers Association likely as any approach to bridge the gap that to promote car purchases and new high- intermediate students might otherwise fall ways in the 1950’s. Featured in a documen- through in this kind of challenging course. tary (Taken for a Ride) on the domination of the automobile in mid-twentieth century References America, this is shown as part of a unit on Brinton, D.M., Snow, M.A., & Wesche, M.B. the development of car culture and the (1989). Content-based second language decline of public transportation in the U.S. instruction. New York: Newbury House Students watch a black-and-white animated Publishers. commercial set in the year 2000 in which a Furmanovsky, M. (1994). The Video Listen- man leaves work in a futuristic flying car. ing-viewing Diary. The Language Teacher He easily overtakes the few other cars in the 18, 4. same ‘lane” and soon arrives home to park Halvorsen, J. & Gettings, R. E. (1996). his car in one of four garages labelled Designing and Teaching a Content “Dad,” “Mom,” “junior,” and “Sis.” An Course. In G. van Troyer, S. Cornwell information gap question and answer and H. Morikawa (Eds.), Curriculum and activity, based on pairs in which one student Evaluation: Proceedings of the JALT watches the screen while the other listens to International Conference on Language the narration, is used to teach about the role Teaching/Learning (pp. 34-37). Tokyo: of automobile corporations in promoting car Japan Association for Language ownership and highway construction in the Teaching. post-war era. Notes Public service announcement (PSAJ & 1 The titles mentioned in this discussion, government propaganda Rosie the Riveter, Ethnic Notions, An Ocean Apart, Whose Side Are You on, (1996): This is a series The Flapper and Taken For A Ride are all TV of PSAs made by the non-profit American documentaries that have been shown by the U.S. Advertising Council’s Coalition for Ameri- Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). See the PBS ca’s Children. It uses real-life individuals Internet homepage Towards True Multiculturalism: Ideas for Teachers Brian McVeigh Toyo Gakuen University The goals of multiculturalism are In this talk, 1 focus on several com- certainly vital and worthwhile. However, monly misunderstood and misused terms. there is much misunderstanding about what But first, allow me to ask the question, a true multiculturalism entails. Specifically, “What does it mean to be ‘Japanese’?” The certain terms am carelessly used inter- problem is that many confuse physical traits changeably, resulting in conceptual confu- (“race”), ethnicity, and citizenship when sion. These terms are all fundamentally answering this question. In other words, distinct, and though easy to understand, some believe that being Japanese means all they are often confused, resulting in less of these, or that all these very different than enlightened views about the nature of forms of identity naturally spring from human diversity. Teaching students the some mystical essence of being Japanese. In importance of these distinctions is the first order to answer this question, we should step in building a genuine multiculturalism. start with a fundamental distinction involv- My discussion is based on experience ing the difference between what people teaching cultural anthropology, Japanese acquire through socialization and what culture, English, and specialized seminars to people are born with. Or, more simply, the Japanese students. Thus, the suggestions nurture-versus-nature distinction. Nurture offered are specifically aimed for those refers to what is learned in the social working in the Japanese classroom. Appreci- environment (extra-genetic traits), while ating the differences between ethnicity, nature refers to innate traits (genetic traits.) citizenship, and race is indispensable for This distinction is easy to understand but a English content courses that deal with surprising number of people fail to keep it cultural diversity and cross-cultural under- in mind when discussing multiculturalism standing. and human diversity. (see Figure 1) NURTURE: NATURE: ACQUIRED VIA SOCIALIZATION ("CULTURE") GENETICALLY DETERMINED Political *Ethnicity *Race (jinshu) Affiliation Physical Traits Citizenship *Culture as Art *Nationality *Culture as Knowledge *Nationality Tradition Human Relations Language *Designates terms with different definitions, often confusing and conflating several meanings. 150 Culture Ethnicity Race The first term I discuss is ethnicity, or Simply defined, race is the categoriza- knowledge about self-identity and group tion of humans into groups based on affiliation that one acquires via socialization. physical appearance or traits. Of all the Ethnicity is often used interchangeably with concepts discussed, this is the most prob- “race,” though these two concepts are lematic for a number of reasons, but the fundamentally different since race is main reason is that there is no scientific genetically determined, and ethnicity is evidence that different human races exist. learned. Belonging to an ethnic group is not Though up to now, I have been using the necessarily the same as belonging to a word “race” as if there were many races, at political unit, since historically states and this point allow me to state that there is only empires usually contain within their borders one human race (homo sapiens). Race is mom several - sometimes many - ethnic of a sociopolitical and economic classifica- groups. Many scholars equate ethnicity with tion than a biological one. Usually, when we “nationality,” not with political affiliation or think of race, we think of skin color, facial state membership. The group affiliation of structure, eye shape, or hair, but in actuality ethnicity may be based on any number of there are countless other ways to categorize sentiments rooted in a perceived common people using physical traits, such as foot history, heritage, religion, language, geogra- size, ear shape, finger length, and thousands phy, or political (cf. Connor 1994; Smith of unseen biochemical and genetic traits that 1981). make up our physicality. But, probably because they are all very obvious traits, we Citizenship are socially conditioned to think of race as The next term I discuss is “citizenship,” skin color, facial structure, eye shape, and which can be simply defined as possessing hair. membership in or belonging to a political The idea that there are different races unit usually defined as the nation-state. was ideologically formalized in the nine- Historically, citizenship is a recent method teenth century, and this ideology was driven of dividing up human groups, though an by, as it still is in many places, political and extremely important one. Citizenship is economic reasons. Basically, there have been commonly called nationality, though as I three theories about race, all presently just mentioned, many scholars equate discredited by most scholars (but not by all). nationality with ethnicity. Here allow me to The first theory is one of “racial types.” Late note that what many label “nationalism” is 19th and early 20th century scholars at- really “statism,” or possessing strong tempted to identify individuals who sentiments towards or attachment to typified “original, pun?’ races, with charac- political structures. “Nationalism,” on the teristics such as head form, hair color, and other hand, refers to strong sentiments facial features. For example, the “Nordic” towards or attachment to an ethnic group, was tall, long-headed, and blond. The and quite often, ethnic groups do not “Alpine“ was shorter, round-headed, and possess their own formal or official state had brown or red hair. There are two major structures. Or, whatever political structures problems with the racial-type theory. First, it they do possess are often components of or assumes that prehistoric races lacked subordinate to a more powerful state variation, and there is no evidence that apparatus. “pure“ races ever existed. Second, even if Many people unthinkingly equate a pure races existed, we could not identify geographical area with an ethnic group or their traits in modern populations because with political structures. In English, the of all the interbreeding that has occurred word “country“ carries these multiple over tens of thousands of years. Thus, few meanings, and in Japanese, kuni does. But it scientists believe there are racial “types.” should be noted that there are many nations The second theory is one of “racial or ethnic groups that do not have a well- stocks.” Some physical anthropologists have defined homeland due to periodic migration attempted to divide people into “major or have lost their homeland due to war or stocks“ or “great races.” For example: Asian, emigration. . African, European, or Negroid, Caucasoid, 151 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Mongoloid. But none of these systems work, since any given individual shares features of "Culture" mom than one stock Also, it has been Finally, some words about “culture” are discovered that hidden biochemical traits pertinent, which needless to say is not cross-cut racial groups. Thus, many scien- genetically determined and comes from the environment. Culture is a word that inevita- tists do not believe we can scientifically bly crops up in any discussion of Japan. It is divide the human species into racial stocks. a word so bound up with Japanese studies The third theory is one of “zoological that any serious observer of Japan is well subspecies.” If two animals can inbreed, advised to come to terms with its uses and they are said to belong to the same species. abuses. For many Japanese (as well as non- In zoological classification, a subspecies is a Japanese), this word refers to their “unique” major division of a species, whose members tradition, a collection of customs and beliefs share certain traits that differentiate them found nowhere else. from the rest of the species. If 75% of the The first point to be made is that, as in population can be distinguished by certain Japanese, “culture” has two meanings. The identifying traits, then it can be said that first (culture as art) refers to artistic pursuits they are a subspecies. Some researchers or intellectual endeavors, usually of a believe that the different races of human- refined nature. The second meaning (culture kind are “subspecies” of one human race. as knowledge), which subsumes the latter Recently, the concept of animal “subspecies” definition, is a social scientific concept has been seriously doubted by zoologists. whose precise definition has been and is still But in any case, human groups have been debated. Here 1 will not treat the numerous and still are constantly inbreeding so definitions offered in the literature, but human subspecies cannot exist. provide a provisional definition that As I noted above, for many people race everyone should agree on: “something usually means differences in skin color and learned.” Or more specifically, the arts, facial features, but actually there are many beliefs, customs, sociopolitical institutions, ways to biologically distinguish human and all other products of human creation groups. There are many genetic characteris- and thought developed by a group of tics that cross-cut groups. For example, the ple at a particular time which is learned. sickle-cell gene is shared by “white” ere let me note that ethnicity, tradition, Mediterraneans and ‘black” Africans; ABO historical heritage, and language are cultural blood types vary tremendously among since they are learned. Mongoloid populations; lactase deficiency Distinguishing the two aforementioned among the Baganda of East Africa is three definitions of culture may seem elementary, times that of their neighbors, the Watusi, but but it is surprising how many scholars almost the same as Chinese. No one calls conflate these two meanings. Moreover, these biological differences “race,” but there everyday usage of the term “culture” in is no reason why we could not. Japan often merges culture as art and To conclude this section on race, I do culture as socially-acquired knowledge. not think that race is a useful scientific Like people anywhere, most Japanese concept. However, regardless of the unscien- are proud of their culture’s traditions. Some tific status of this concept, racism, racialism, are so proud, in fact, that they are more than and racialist ideologies are deeply rooted in happy to tell non-Japanese just how special many parts of the world. Whether true or and “unique” their society is. The “Japa- not, race, like some superstitious notions, nese-culture-as-unique” line of thought governs the thoughts and actions of many (e.g., four seasons, eating raw fish, Japanese people. We do not have to remind ourselves language, sleeping on floors, using chop- about the devastating effects of racism in sticks, and Japanese rice [cf. Ohnuki-Tierney our own societies. But here let me note that 1993] are commonly reported as “unique” many of the differences that some Japanese examples of Japanese culture) at first glance attribute to culture, language (cf. Miller may seem innocuous, even quaint, to the 1982), and history are actually parts of what more cosmopolitan, but it possesses an seem to be a state-sponsored, or at least ideological thrust that is insidious and far state-tolerated, form of racialism. In other from being necessarily innocent. After all, words, the sociopolitical variable of race the “uniqueness of the Japanese” (often plays a large and disturbing role in Japanese meaning “superiority”) (cf. Dale 1986) was a society. . prewar fascist and racist slogan, used to 152 Culture justify imperialism, enslavement, and war own choice of definitions and uses for the atrocities. Today, non-Japanese (especially terms previously explained; however, I non-whites) living in Japan often receive believe that we should at least all be aware treatment that is blatantly discriminatory. that careless usage can only lead to confu- Such treatment is often justified by invoking sion, resulting in the perpetuation of some “unique” feature of Japanese culture. damaging myths about the meaning of When Japanese legitimize, defend, or human diversity. Another suggestion is that explain some trait as being due to the instructors inform themselves about the “uniqueness” of their culture they am often facts of Japan, and carefully avoid repeating engaging in a form of cultural essentialism, the many myths about Japan and the which simply put, means to obfuscate (or to Japanese people (examples: “Japanese be kept unaware of) some belief or culture is unique”; “the Japanese people are behavior’s intimate relation to political homogeneous”; “the Japanese are conform- plays or economic interests (Williams 1996, ist”; “the Japanese language is hard for p. xxv). Concealing the political side of foreigners to learn”; “Japan is a small belief or behavior is a means to posit a country”; “Japanese act like this because we “truth” that is immune from critical scrutiny, were a closed society during Tokugawa”; or so that people often come to accept tauto- “we live in an island country”; or “we used logical determinism; i. e., “Japanese-act-that- to live in an agricultural society; or "we way-because-they-are Japanese” (a circular have four seasons”; “we are shy"; “we used argument prevalent among Japanese to be vegetarians”; “we are Buddhist”; “we students I teach). are Shintoist”; etc.) (cf. Yoshino 1992). Cultural essentialism may be referred to Let me end by repeating a point already as “culturalism.” Bestor’s study of the made. It is extremely important to distin- cultural dynamics that sustain and give guish the various concepts that I have identity to an urban neighborhood in Japan discussed, because without doing so, we run is pertinent here. He uses the term “tradi- the grave danger of assuming that cultural tionalism”: “the manipulation, invention, knowledge is something determined by and recombination of cultural patterns, physical traits or genes. We also run the symbols, and motifs so as to legitimate danger of essentializing human differences contemporary social realities by imbuing that should not be essentialized, notably them with a patina of venerable historicity’ physical traits, which are, after all, only skin (1989, p. 2). According to Bestor, traditional- deep. ism is a “common Japanese cultural device for managing or responding to social References change” (1989, p. 10). Traditionalism and Bestor, T. C. (1989). Neighborhood Tokyo. culturalist explanations are both attempts to Stanford: Stanford University Press. add legitimacy to present day social and Connor, W. (1994). Ethnonationalism: The political arrangements by constructing and quest for understanding. Princeton: reshaping conventions. Princeton University Press. Dale, P. N. (1986). The myth of Japanese Conclusion uniqueness. University of Oxford: To conclude, I would like to say that Nissan Institute for Japanese Studies. one of the most challenging problems of a Miller, R. A. (1982). Japan's modern myth. sincere multiculturalism is how to build an New York: Weatherhill. intelligently informed multiculturalism Ohnuki-Tierney, E. (1993). Rice as self: which relies on social scientific concepts and Japanese identities through time. discards unscientific and confusing notions. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Another problem is to get the state to accept Smith, A. D. (1981). The ethnic revival. diversity within its geographical borders and within its ideological boundaries. Cambridge: Cambridge University Instructors, Japanese and non-Japanese Press. alike, have the responsibility to counter elite Williams, D. (1996). Japan and the enemies of and state-sponsored myth-making. I would open political science. London: Routledge. suggest that, in order to teach a genuine Yoshino K. (1992). Cultural nationalism in multiculturalism, instructors carefully contemporary Japan: A sociological inquiry. consider the meaning of the words com- New York: Routledge. monly used to come to terms with human diversity. I do not expect people to adopt my 153 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Comparing Cultures through Critical Thinking: Development and Interpretation of Meaningful Observations Laurel D. Kamada Hitosaki University Japanese college students today come Students also lack the ability to debate ideas into freshman classes lacking experience in and sham opposing opinions with others. basic learning skills. This is due in part to Debate has been shown to be a very e&c- emphasis in schools on the cognitive aspect tive classroom tool employed by foreign of education at the expense of ignoring basic instructors in Japan to facilitate Japanese human dimensions such as feeling, reacting, students in using logical reasoning and and internalizing (Batcher, 1981; Burns, problem solving and in expressing agree- 1982). Schools emphasize teaching over ment and disagreement (Bolichowski, H. learning. Studies have revealed that more 1995; Izumi, K. 1995; Le, V., 1995). favorable self-esteem develops in pupils Also, many students have well defined from innovative and humanistically ori- ethnocentric and stereotypical viewpoints ented schools than in more traditionally limiting their ability to objectively evaluate oriented schools (Bums, 1982; Luk, C. L. & new or unusual ideas. Many often resort to Bond M. H., 1992). narrowing things down to over-simplistic In response to this need for an environ- categories of either “good” or “bad” rather ment where students take control of their than viewing other ideas, peoples or own learning a university Comparative cultures in a total context. Japanese stu- Cultures class in Japan was devised in dents also have a tendency to reduce things which students were taught a basic method- to a common consensual agreement, rather ology for approaching the subject matter than developing and expressing their own through observing thinking, and evaluating individual ideas. rather than being simply introduced to lt is not so much that students are differences in Western culture. loathe to think about and discuss important Many students enter the first day of or interesting issues; rather it is the problem class lacking experience in using critical simply of having inadequate experience and thinking processes to solve problems techniques for doing so. Once given the logically. Davidson describes critical tools to do so, students often show great thinking as enthusiasm and proficiency in objectively analyzing and comparing cultures. A the capacity to create and analyze methodology for developing ideas and proofs or arguments by making interpreting observations in a meaningful sound use of evidence and logic. manner was needed. Such skills include the ability to An objective was established to bring construct a coherent chain of students to recognize the value of diversity reasoning and also the ability to in cultural perspectives in differing peoples evaluate sources of information for between and within cultures. An important their relative objectivity, coherence, aspect of this was to create opportunities for and validity (1994a, p. 20) students to experience learning through a process of their own discovery The purpose 154 Culture here was to give Japanese students a students aware, first, of the problems, and methodology for interpreting and evaluat- secondly, to work on ways of avoiding ing other cultures through a process where them. they would visualize themselves “standing in the shoes of others” and seeing the world First day classroom activity: ethnocen- from another’s eyes. The theme song from trism the animated Disney film, Pocahontas, is One of the introductory activities that used to illustrate this to students. The Indian students are asked to do on the first day of princess says to the British settler, “. . . if you class is to take only about three to five walk the footsteps of a stranger, you’ll learn minutes to draw a map of the world (major things you never knew you never knew” continents and countries) on a white piece of (Schwartz, 1995). The ultimate goal was that paper as best they can without looking at through the process of bringing students to any resources. What results from this realize the richness of cultural variety activity is not only a great range in complex- outside of their country and themselves, ity of maps that are produced, but also they would also come to see their own variations are seen in distortions in the size patterns of thought and ways of behavior as of other countries compared to the size of being equally important. Through this their country, Japan. Some students draw approach students would develop the Japan extremely oversized, others draw it means for self-critique and with it, the undersized. Nearly all the maps drawn by ability to evaluate critically. Japanese students place Japan in the middle. Students are later asked to evaluate their Understanding stereotypical thinking maps noticing differences and similarities It is natural for people to evaluate their among each other. Then several other world from their personal perspective and versions of maps are shown such as the to place others in broad general categories European version with England in the - that is, to make stereotypical generaliza- middle, USA to the west and Japan to the tions of others. This can be problematic if East or the Down Under” map where the carried to an extreme. Not only is this a globe is turned upside down with Australia problem for students, but instructors centralized and the rest of the southern themselves are also often guilty. Much has hemisphere in the top part of the map. been written about the need for more This lesson is used to illustrate our cultural understanding on the part of unconscious ethnocentrism. Oxford English Western instructors coming into Asian Reference Dictionary defines ethnocentric as classrooms (Cogan, 1995; Davidson 1994a, “evaluating other races and cultures by Flowerdew & Miller, 1995). Although it criteria specific to one’s own.” Again in may not always be an easy thing to do, it is referring to the lyrics from “Colors of the of particular importance for instructors to Wind,” Pocahontas accuses John Smith of try to keep an objective approach in their ethnocentrism, ‘You think the only people analysis of cultures, so as to set a model for who are people are the people who look and students. Davidson advises teachers to ask think like you” (Schwartz, 1995). themselves the following question: “Are we aiming at training our students to be Forming consensus & keeping integ- discerning individuals able to decide for rity: panel discussion themselves whether or not they accept an A unit on panel discussions was idea, or are we trying to influence them introduced for the purpose of giving subliminally to accept uncritically our students experience in sharing differing ideas?” (1994a, p. 21) From the first class, attitudes based on differing points of view students and teacher alike must put them- and then.coming to an agreement or a selves in a frame of mind where constant “Conference Statement” while maintaining attempts are made to view other cultures their integrity The task was to question “from the shoes of the other,” as mentioned each other, but to respect others‘ opinions earlier. In introducing the concept of (not to argue and debate, usually). Thus, ethnocentrism to students, several illustra- without abandoning their principles, tions and activities were presented to make students had to come to sympathize with 155 On JALT96: Crossing Borders others and come to a compromise. Classtime preparation Students were asked to choose from First meeting: rules of how to play. among several suggested panels a role of a Students use two class periods and home- person from a particular country, culture or work to prepare for their panel which takes ethnicity (sometimes including their own) or place on the third class. From the begin- to choose the role of the moderator. They ning students understand what is expected were to assume that role in discussing the of them. ‘First, each speaker is given 2 to 3 particular issue of the panel. It was impor- minutes to present their individual prepared tant that they try to come to sympathize statements on the issue of discussion. The with the role they chose and to get into their content is based on the role they take on, not role. This could be furthered by going to the necessarily their real opinions. After all of library and reading up about aspects of their the panelists present their viewpoints, a role. general discussion follows for about 5 to 8 The role of the moderator was to keep minutes. Importance is stressed here for the pace moving, to break up arguments panelists to speak out and question, disa- and to be fair in deciding whose turn it was gree, seek clarification, make comments or to speak during discussion-to make sure add to other panelists’ views. Them is no that one aggressive person wasn’t keeping order of who speaks first. The rest of the the microphone for too long. However, with class listens, asks questions or makes Japanese students, prodding is often comments at the end of the time period. necessary to make students speak; for On the first meeting, all points of the example, the moderator might say, “Sue unit am introduced generally Roles are Smith, from USA, what is your response to decided. The number of panelists should be Mohammed’s view on. . . " The moderator adjusted to fit the number of students in the must be fair, unbiased and only play the class so that every student will have at least role of facilitating the smooth discussion of one role. Students move into panel groups the panel. Another option would be for and discuss freely. They should keep notes students who chose to be moderator to also indicating areas where more information is take on a regular role from another panel or to be needed. By the next class, students for the teacher to be the moderator. should prepare by doing library research about their role and preferably also about Example topic other panelists’ roles as well. Before the next One example of a panel topic was class, each panelist must prepare a draft of a concerned with the bullying problem in two to three minute statement regarding the schools. It was presented as follows: theme of the panel. The moderator decides foreign students have been bullied in the format to be used to make name plac- Japanese schools. The panel was assembled ards for the panelists and moderator. Also to talk in general about the rising problems the panelists, but especially the moderator, of bullying in schools related to problems of try to brainstorm possible consensual ‘being different” in a society that empha- statements for homework, even at this early sizes conformity problems of children not stage. knowing how to play and interact with each Second meeting: discussion. Having other, problems of student’s frustrations and researched in the library, everyone has a insecurities, home problems, and problems deeper perspective on their role. On this of the educational system. Seven panel day, small groups are formed in differing members included a moderator and a places around the classroom for each of the Japanese and a foreigner role for each of the panels where each panelist presents his/her following: a parent of a middle school statement in their discussion group. Then student, a middle school teacher, and a they begin discussing, questioning and middle school student (not necessarily the commenting. The moderator tries to suggest child of the parent above). Students were to a compromise statement, and modifies it as decide for themselves the country of of panelists discuss, agree, or disagree. If origin of the foreigners. students have not had enough discussion time together in class to feel confident to Culture present their panels by the following not to determine that one culture is right classtime, they should arrange a time to and another culture is wrong or that one meet together outside of class to further culture is better than another; rather practice in preparation. through coming to understand other Third meeting: panels presented. On cultures, students come back to look at this day the panels are presented. Students themselves and their own country and try to are encouraged to challenge themselves by find the means to be better than they being expressive, speaking out and ques- already are. tioning loudly, clearly, and confidently. If possible, the panels should be videotaped. References An edited video of best excerpts can be Batcher, E. (1981). Emotion in the classroom: shown on the last day of class. Students not A study of children’s experience. Praeger: in the panel being presented are to listen, New York. learn, comment, and ask questions. Students Bennet, M. (1993). How not to be a fluent evaluate others and also evaluate them- fool: Understanding the cultural selves by considering what they would do dimension of language. The Language better next time. Teacher, 17 (9), 3-5. Fourth meeting: consensus and Bolichowski, H. (1995). Debating the issue. conference statement. On the final day, any Language Teacher, 19 (7), 18 - 19. presentations not finished from the class Burns, R. (1982). Self-concept development before are presented. Then each panel meets and education. London: Holt, Rinehart together to discuss among themselves and and Winston, Ltd. come up with a statement of agreement to Cogan, D. (1995). Should foreign teachers of be submitted in written form. First, the English adapt their methods to Japa- students should write down individually nese patterns of learning and classroom what they feel to be points of agreement interaction? The Language Teacher, 19 (1), among all the panelists. Then all come 36-38. together and share their ideas and discuss Cornwell, S. (1994). Cultural relativism: problems and points that need to be com- Pitfall or tool? The Language Teacher, 18 promised. It is the moderator’s job, with the (8), 40 - 41. help of the panelists to write up a statement Davidson, B. (1994a). Critical thinking: A that all can agree upon and sign. Since perspective and prescriptions for agreement is the final goal, panelists should language teachers. The Language lean toward agreement rather than debate. Teacher, 18 (4), 20-25. However, it is important that they preserve Davidson, B. (1994b). The pitfalls of their integrity and principles. If time cultural relativism. The Language permits, students present their conference Teacher, 18 (5), 30-31. statements to the class. Otherwise, they are Flowerdew, J. & Miller, L. (1995, Summer). submitted in writing and copies are made On the Notion of Culture in L2 Lec- later for other students to see. If students tures. TESOL Quarterly, 29 (2), 345-373. are unable to finish within the allotted Hirose, K. & Kobayashi, H. (1991). Coopera- classtime, they must complete it as a group tive small group discussion. ]ALT for homework. Journal 13 (1), 57-71. Horowitz, D. & Stein, L. (1990). Teaching Conclusion presentation and discussion skills to The purpose of this course was to give EAP students. JALT Journal, 12 (1), 9-28. students the tools in hand so that they are lzumi, K. (1995). Teaching debate in equipped with a methodology for evaluat- Japanese high schools. The Language ing and comparing any or all aspects of Teacher, 19 (7), 9 -11. cultures, not only those limited topics Johnson, D. & Johnson R., (1994). Coopera- selected for study within the classroom time tive learning in second language framework. Furthermore, students possess classes. The Language Teacher, 18 (10), 4- the skills and means for expressing them- 7. selves to others. Hopefully they internalize Le, V. (1995). Doable debates. The Language that the purpose of comparing cultures is Teacher, 19 (7), 12 - 16. 157 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Luk, C. L. & Bond, M. H. (1992). Explaining Chinese self-esteem in terms of the self- concept. Psychologia, 35 (3) 147 - 154. Mutch, B. M. (1995). Motivation and cultural attitudes: Increasing language use in the classroom. The Language Teacher, 19 (8), 14-15. Schwartz, S. (1995). Colors of the wind (Song lyrics). Wonderland Music Co.,Inc. (BMI)/Disney Music Co. (ASCAP). Authority and Individualism in Japan and the U.S.A. Alisa Woodring Hiroshima Shudo University “Status-oriented,” “hieramhical,” Machines (IBM). The paper-and-pencil “formal,” “grouporiented,” “collectivistic,” survey contained, among other items, 32 “interdependent”: these terms are found values questions. Hofstede defines a value throughout the literature which aims to as “a broad tendency to prefer certain states expand one‘s understanding of Japan and of affairs over others . this definition things Japanese. However, as Dean reserves the word ‘value’ for mental Bamlund (1989), one of the first to use and programs that are relatively unspecific: the popularize such terms, notes, “it is tempting same mental program can be activated in a once we have become attached to certain variety of situations” (p. 19). The question- views of a culture for such images, through naire was translated into 20 languages and constant reiteration, to acquire the power of administered to matched samples of myth” (p. 167). The myth of the Japanese employees of IBM subsidiaries in 40 differ- student, group- and status-oriented, can be ent countries. Employees were matched by used to predict and explain students‘ occupation, age and sex. The survey was behavior, thereby influencing all aspects of administered twice, allowing for the teaching. Relying on the myth of the stability of differences found and trends Japanese student, accounting for students’ over time to be examined. Over 116,000 behavior can, nevertheless, remain a hit or surveys were ultimately available for miss affair. It was this discrepancy between analysis. what had been read about the mythological Ecological factor analysis of the 32 Japanese student and what had actually mean values scores of the 40 countries been experienced with very real students in revealed that 49% of the variance in means the classroom that prompted the present could be explained by three factors, one of research. which was later divided into two factors (Hofstede, 1980). These four factors, or Background dimensions, comprise Hofstede’s four- Geert Hofstede (1989), a Dutch profes- dimensional model of cultural difference. sor of organizational anthropology and The labels chosen for the four dimensions international management, has conducted and their interpretations are as follows: exhaustive national culture research. Between 1967 and 1974, he designed and 1. Power Distance. This is the degree to administered an international attitude which a society accepts the idea that survey program for International Business power is to be distributed unequally 158 Culture The more this is accepted, the higher Uncertainty Avoidance (Goodman, the Power Distance ranking. “All 1994, p. 138). societies are unequal but some are All 40 countries were given an index more unequal than others” (Hofstede, score on each dimension and subsequently 1980, p. 136). grouped into eight culture areas (Hofstede, 2. Individualism. This is the degree to 1980), based upon their index scores on each which a society feels that individuals’ dimension and their common histories, beliefs and actions should be inde- which partly explain their similar index pendent of collective thought and scores. Only Japan represents a culture area action. The more this idea is accepted, by itself. It is labeled “More Developed the higher the rank on this measure. Asian,” with a medium Power Distance 3. Masculinity. This is the degree to Index score, a medium Individualism Index which a society focuses on assertive- score, a high Uncertainty Avoidance Index ness, task achievement, and the score, and a high Masculinity Index score. acquisition of things as opposed to The U.S.A. is clustered with Australia, quality of life issues such as caring Canada, Great Britain, Ireland and New for others, group solidarity, and Zealand, and labeled “Anglo.” All the helping the less fortunate. The more countries in the “Anglo” cluster have small assertiveness, competitiveness, and to medium Power Distance Index scores, ambition are accepted, the higher a high Individualism Index scores, low to country’s Masculinity ranking. medium Uncertainty Avoidance Index 4. Uncertainty Avoidance. This is the scores, and high Masculinity Index scores degree to which a society feels (p. 336). The relative positions of all 40 threatened by ambiguous situations countries which Hofstede surveyed on and tries to avoid them by providing Power Distance and Individualism axes, the rules and refusing to tolerate devi- values with which the present research is ance. The more a society accepts this concerned, are shown in Figure 1. The idea, the higher its ranking in abbreviations used are shown in Table 1. Figure 1. Position of 40 Countries on Power Distance and Individualism. Source: Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related values, by G. H. Hofstede, 1980 (p. 223). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. imali Power Distance Large Power Distance .ow Individualism Low Individualism PAK n VEN . PER n CCL n TAI’ I l THA n SIN CHLm N ‘lioK mYlJG P:R n MEX D n PHl I GREe T;R n BRA V l IRA ARG I . n JAP n IND D . U .mISR SPA AUT A FIN L n NOtfiGER SAF I IRE’ : SWI n FRA l DEN SWE S n BEL NET n ITA M n NZL TAN G8R c USA mall Power Distance AUL n Large Power Distance igh Individualism High Individualism ------l’UWtR DISTANCE . 159 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Table 1. Abbreviations Used in Figure 1 ARG Argentina GRE Greece PHI Philipines AUL Australia HOK Hong Kong POR Portugal AUT Austria IND India SAF South Africa BEL Belgium IRA Iran SIN Singapore BRA Brazil IRE Ireland SPA Spain CAN Canada ISR Israel SWE Sweden CHL Chile SW1 Switzerland COL Columbia z Jrzn TAI Taiwan DEN Denmark MEX Mexico THA Thailand FIN Finland NET Netherlands TUR Turkey FRA France NOR Norway USA United States GBR Great Britain NZL New Zealand VEN Venezuela GER Germany PAK Pakistan YUG Yugoslavia (West) PER Peru Method Instrument The relevance of Hofstede’s research to Goodman’s original self-assessment educational settings “is based on the exercise presents 46 paired statements assumption that role patterns and value adapted from Hofstede’s list of differences systems in a society are carried forward in teacher-student and student-student from the school to the job and hack” (1986, interaction related to Power Distance and p. 306). The workplace and the school are Individualism. Participants am instructed to fundamental institutions found in all human circle the statement in each pair they agree societies. Both institutions have a pair of with most strongly. They are instructed to unequal but complementary basic roles or work quickly, rather than taking time to “archetypal role pairs”: boss-subordinate consider a “right” answer, thus helping to and teacher-student. These archetypal roles avoid responses predicated upon the are played in different ways in different expected cultural norm. Based upon the 23 societies, dependent upon each society’s statements chosen, participants’ Individual- culture and value systems. Yet role patterns ism and Power Distance levels are then interact among institutions so that teacher- determined. A Japanese translation of student patterns of interaction will be Goodman’s instrument was prepared carried over to boss-subordinate patterns of through a back translation process (see interaction within a society Appendix B). Unfortunately for the researcher, Hofstede’s original survey does not carry Participants over from the workplace to the school as Japanese participants. The Japanese easily as role patterns and value systems. Its version of the instrument was administered length and questions unrelated to values to 156 first-year students at Hiroshima make classroom administration difficult. In Shudo University in July 1995. All partici- subsequent writings, however, Hofstede (1986) suggested differences in teacher- pants were fluent in Japanese. Seventy student and student-student interaction participants were from the Faculty of related to Power Distance and Individual- Commercial Sciences; sixty-three were from ism. These were adapted for use in a cross- the Faculty of Humanities and Human cultural training program module Sciences; twenty-three participants were (Goodman, 19941, in the form of a self- from the Faculty of Law. assessment exercise, which easily lends itself American particioants. Goodman’s to classroom administration (see Appendix original survey was administered to 106 A). students with freshman standing at Palomar 160 Culture College, San Marcos, California in January Procedure and February 1996. All participants were All participants were reminded, in fluent in English and enrolled in an intro- English, not to identify themselves by name ductory English composition course. They on the instrument, to consider all of their ranged in age from 16 to 57, with a median educational experiences when completing age of 20 and an average age of 22. Of the the instrument, and to work quickly in Palomar participants, 75.5% were European completing the instrument. Participants Americans, 14.2% Hispanic Americans, 5.7% completed the instrument in 3 to 10 minutes. African Americans, 2.8% Asian Americans, and Native Americans and Middle Eastern Results Americans each comprised 0.9% of the The means of the 156 Shudo students students surveyed. and the 106 Palomar students on Power Distance and Individualism axes are shown in Figure 2. The abbreviations used are shown in Table 2. Figure 2. Positions of Hiroshima Shudo University and Palomar College on Power Distance and Individualism. Small Power Distance Large Power Distance Low Individualism Low individualism JAD 0 AGE A Pot &AAD HSU EA; kc Small Power Distance Large Power Distance iigh Individualism High Individualism POWER DISTANCE Table 2. Abbreviations Used in Figure 2 HSU Hiroshima Shudo JAD Japanese Administrator University AAD American Administrator PCC Palomar College POC People of Color AGE Age Adjustment EAM European Americans 161 On JALT96: Crossing Borders The Shudo mean represents medium to possible causes: maturation, generation, small Power Distance and medium to high Zeitgeist, and seniority. As a result of Individualism. Similarly, the Palomar mean maturation, respondents’ values shift as represents medium Power Distance and they age, generally with a direct relationship medium to high Individualism. Eighty-four between increased age and increased percent of the Shudo students and 67% of conservatism or desire to maintain existing the Palomar students placed within the cultural values. As a result of generation, Small Power Distance-High Individualism values are set in the young people from a quadrant, the location of the U.S.A. in certain period and stay with them through- Hofstede's original findings. Three percent out their lifetime. If the conditions of life of the Shudo students and 4% of the during youth change drastically, this may Palomar students placed within the Large result in different generations having Power Distance-Low Individualism quad- different fixed values. As a result of Zeitgeist, rant, the position of Japan in Hofstede’s trends in society, values change throughout original research. Overall, 96% of the Shudo a society or culture, regardless of age, students and 69% of the Palomar students generation or seniority. And as a result of placed somewhere within the Small Power seniority, for respondents from one particu- Distance quadrants, while 85% of the Shudo lar organization, their values shift not students and 94% of the Palomar students because they have physically aged but placed somewhere within the High Indi- because they have become more senior vidualism quadrants. within the organization (p. 345). Discussion Power Distance The paired statements from which Among Japanese students. Hofstede’s respondents were instructed to choose research (1980) revealed “a decrease of the represent extremes of Small and Large desired power distance worldwide” (p. 342). Power Distances and Low and High lndi- He attributes this decrease to a combined vidualism and, as Hofstede (1986) notes, maturation and Zeitgeist effect. “Equality’ “reality is often in between these extremes” generally appeals less to older than to (p. 311). Nevertheless, the picture of Shudo younger individuals, although better University students which emerges from the educated people tend to mature later and research, a group with Small Power Dis- stay in touch with societal trends longer (p. tance and High Individualism, reveals 355). Furthermore, across cultures, the desire values significantly different from those for greater equality grew with an increase revealed by Hofstede’s original research and over time in the technology necessary to purported to be held by the mythological provide for an increasing world population Japanese student, but surprisingly similar to and the accompanying increase in education the values held by their U.S. American levels and the size of the middle classes (p. counterparts at Palomar College. 353). The relatively young age of the Having conducted a longitudinal Hiroshima Shudo University participants survey, first around 1968 and again around would then explain a smaller Power Dis- 1972, and having matched respondents for tance than that found in Japanese society as age, Hofstede (1980) was able to see and a whole. Likewise, the continuance in Japan foresee outcomes like those revealed by the of the trends Hofstede describes —increased present research. While explaining the technology, increased education levels and stability of cultural patterns over long increased size of the middle classes — periods of time due to their reinforcement would also help to account for the Shudo by institutions, which are themselves the students’ small Power Distance. products of the dominant value systems, Although the participants were verbally Hofstede also acknowledges that cultures instructed to consider all their educational do change. In addition, he recognizes that experiences when completing the instru- the rate of change has increased during the ment, it is possible that the context in which past two centuries. He attributes differences the Shudo students completed the survey, in values among respondents of different an EFL class taught by a U.S. American ages, or at different times, or both to four teacher, influenced their perception of the 162 Culture word “teacher” when it appeared in the Individualism survey. To test for this possibility, a Japanese Among Japanese students. Regarding professor administered the Japanese Individualism, Hofstede’s research (1980) language version of the survey to 19 first- revealed “a sharp increase in individualism” year Commercial Science students enrolled (p. 367) throughout the 40 countries sur- in his English class at Shudo. The students veyed, and he noted that “Japan [is1 shifting originally surveyed in the Commercial fast to the individualist side” (p. 236). He Sciences faculty had a slightly larger Power attributes this increase to a Zeitgeist effect. Distance and slightly lower Individualism There is a strong association between than the Shudo mean. When surveyed by a individualism and national wealth, and Japanese professor, there was a small most of the countries became wealthier increase in Power Distance and an even during the four-year period in which his smaller decrease in Individualism among research was conducted. Commercial Science students (see Figure 2). In the twenty years since 1974, the year The effect of the ethnicity of the teacher, in which Hofstede completed his original however, is not great enough to account for research, Japan’s GDP per capita has the very large differences found between the increased by approximately 82%, compared cultural values of Shudo students and those with about a 54% increase during the period claimed for mythological Japanese students. of Hofstede’s research (Asahi, 1995, p. 279). Among American students. Similarly, Currently, Japan’s GDP per capita is the maturation and Zeitgeist effects may account seventh highest in the world (JETRO, 1995, for the Power Distance of the Palomar p. 2). While the rate of growth has slowed group. The slightly older mean age of the since 1974, Hofstede’s longitudinal study Palomar students could result in a larger (1980) reveals a strong relation between Power Distance. And, when age is control- national wealth, not economic growth, and led for, Power Distance does decrease Individualism, with causality from wealth to slightly, although not to as low a level as the Individualism (p. 14). Similarly, there is a Shudo students’ (see Figure 2). Individual- weaker negative correlation between Power ism also decreases slightly, which is counter Distance and national wealth (1986, p. 308). to the indirect relation Hofstede found As a result of these two correlations, one between age and Individualism. The finds most wealthy industrialized countries Palomar group does not appear to manifest in the Small Power Distance-High Individu- “a decrease of the desired power distance” alism quadrant. The present results place (1980, p. 342), like that shown by Hofstede’s Shudo students in this same quadrant. findings. One possible reason for this may Again, as a result of the Zeitgeist effect, be the steadily growing income inequality in values change throughout a culture, due to the U.S.A. over the past 20 years - a drastic, system-wide changes in conditions. Zeitgeist effect. While there was a trend Japan’s increased wealth is a drastic, toward greater income equality in the 1950’s system-wide change which may have and 1960’s, income inequality grew in the resulted in the increased Individualism U.S.A. during the 1980’s, creating the widest among Shudo participants and, to a lesser income gap between rich and poor of any degree, the decreased Power Distance. large industrialized country, and this The present, limited research makes it income disparity persists today (Wolff, impossible to determine which of the four 1995). Hofstede (1980) comments, “it seems causes delineated by Hofstede may account that on the level of societies, inequality in for the findings. Undoubtedly maturation power and inequality in wealth go hand in and Zeitgeist are important influences. It is hand. The greater the power inequality, the possible that the shifts revealed may also be greater the wealth inequality, and vice versa. attributed to a generational effect in Japan, Larger or smaller inequality in wealth is one for the generation of the Japanese partici- of the elements in the causal chain that helps pants in this research has been labeled by to explain the power distance syndrome” (p. Japanese society as shin jin rui, literally “new 125). If so, it is not surprising that the Power human beings.” This term, popularized Distance among Palomar students is not as about five years ago, is most often applied small as one might anticipate. to those approximately 25 years old and 163 On JALT96: Crossing Borders younger. At their worst, these new human Japanese student, group- and status- beings are described by older Japanese as oriented, should be regarded alongside the selfish, self-centered and disrespectful of present findings which indicate that first- their elders and of tradition, terms which year Hiroshima Shudo University students can also be used to describe the negative are surprisingly similar to their Palomar aspects of Small Power Distance and High College counterparts, preferring a moder- Individualism. ately egalitarian distribution of power in Among American students. At the time student-teacher interactions and moderately of Hofstede’s research, the U.S.A. was the independent beliefs and actions in student- wealthiest country in the world, as it is student interactions. A comparison between today. Given the strong association between the student cliches and the subcultural national wealth and Individualism de- realities suggests that a reassessment of scribed by Hofstede, this should contribute present teaching methodologies may be to greater Individualism. The lower Indi- required in order to accommodate the vidualism revealed by the present research, values and adequately fulfill the learning though, may be partially accounted for by needs of very real students. Ultimately, a the relatively high level of ethnic diversity willingness to question stereotypes, remain among the Palomar group. tentative and less absolute regarding In general, in intercultural studies, classroom interactions is most needed. “American culture refers to the dominant patterns . . .of mainstream Americans, References composed primarily, but not exclusively, of Asahi Shimbun. (1995). Japan almanac 1996. members of the white, male middle class” Tokyo: Author. (Stewart & Bennett, 1991, xii). Although Barnlund, D. C. (1989). Communicative styles Hofstede’s research was conducted across of Japanese and Americans: Images and occupations in IBM, only a sizable working- realities. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. class population was found in the manufac- Goodman, N. R. (1994). Intercultural turing plants, with the middle class pre- Education At the University Level: dominate in all other sectors. While Teacher-student interaction. In P. Hofstede does not further analyze the Pederson (Series Ed.) & R. W. Brislin & national cultures he examines according to T. Yoshida (VoL Eds.), Multicultural ethnic subcultures, it is probably safe to aspects of counseling series: Vol. 3. assume that the American IBM employees Improving intercultural interactions: surveyed from 1967 to 1974 were not as Modules for cross-cultural training ethnically diverse as the students surveyed prvgrams (pp. 129-147). Thousand Oaks, at Palomar. At Palomar, 24.5% of the CA: Sage. students surveyed were People of Color. Hofstede, G. H. (1980). Culture’s conse- However, they accounted for 50% of the quences: International differences in work- surveyed population placing in the Low related values. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Individualism quadrants. Their Individual- Hofstede, G. H. (1986). Cultural Differences ism mean was somewhat lower than their in Teaching and Learning. International European American counterparts’, and their journal of intercultural relations, 10, 301- Power Distance mean was significantly 320. larger (See Figure 2). Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO). (1995). U.S. and Japan in figures-IV. Conclusion Tokyo: Author. Stereotypes can serve as “a first, best Stewart, E. C., & Bennett, M. J. (1991). guess” (Brislin, 1993, p. 178) when consider- American cultural patterns: A cross- ing a culture and how to function within it. cultural perspective (rev. ed.). Yarmouth, Experiences in that culture, however, and ME: International Press. exploratory studies such as this, “suggest Wolff, E. N. (1995). How the pie is sliced. The there may be a substantial gap between American prospect [On-line], 22, 58-64. cultural cliches and cultural realities” Available: http://epn.org/prospect/ (Barnlund, 1989, p. 167). The mythological 22/22wolf.html 164 Culture Appendix A Instructions: Below there are 46 statements that are clustered in pairs. Circle the statement in each matched pair that you are most comfortable with. There are no wrong answers. Make your choice as spontaneously as possible. You will have 23 items circled at the end of the exercise. 1. A positive association in society is with whatever is rooted in tradition. 2. A positive association in society is with whatever is “new.” 3. Impersonal “truth” is stressed and can, in principle, be obtained from any compe- tent person. 4. Personal “wisdom” is stressed and is transferred in the relationship with a particu- lar teacher (guru). 5. A teacher should respect the independence of his or her students. 6. A teacher merits the respect of his or her students. 7. One is never too old to learn; continual education. 8. The young should learn; adults cannot accept a student role. 9. Students expect to learn how to do. 10. Students expect to learn how to learn. 11. Student-centered education (value is placed on student initiative). 12. Teachercentered education (value is placed on teacherordered learning). 13. Students expect teacher to initiate communication. 14. Teacher expects students to initiate communication. 15. Teacher expects students to find their own paths. 16. Students expect teacher to outline paths to follow. 17. Individual students will speak up in class in response to a general invitation by the teacher. 18. Individual students will only speak up in class when called upon personally by the teacher. 19. Individuals will speak up in large groups. 20. Individuals will only speak up in small groups. 21. Large classes are split socially into smaller cohesive subgroups based on particularist criteria (e.g., ethnic affiliation). 22. Subgroupings in class vary from one situation to the next based on universalist criteria (e.g., the task at hand). 23. Students may speak up spontaneously in class. 24. Students speak up in class only when invited by the teacher. 25. The teacher is seldom contradicted and rarely criticized. 26. Students are allowed to contradict or criticize teacher. 27. Confrontation in learning situations can be beneficial; conflicts can be brought into the open. 28. Formal harmony in learning situations should be maintained. 165 On JALT96: Crossing Borders 29. Effectiveness of learning is related to the excellence of the teacher. 30. Effectiveness of learning is related to the amount of two-way communication in class. 31. Neither the teacher nor any student should be made to lose face. 32. “Face-saving” is of little importance. 33. Education is a way of improving one’s economic worth and self-respect based on ability and competence. 34. Education is a way of gaining prestige in one’s social environment and of joining a higher status group. 35. Outside class, teachers are treated as equals to students. 36. Respect for teachers is also shown outside of class. 37. Diploma certificates are important and displayed on walls. 38. Diploma certificates have little importance. 39. In teacher-student conflicts, parents are expected to side with the student. 40. In teacher-student conflicts, parents are expected to side with the teacher. 41. Older teachers are more respected than younger teachers. 42. Younger teachers are more liked than older teachers. 43. Acquiring competence is more important than acquiring certificates. 44. Acquiring certificates is more important than acquiring competence. 45. Teachers are expected to give preferential treatment to some students (e.g., based on ethnic affiliation or on recommendation by an influential person). 46. Teachers are expected to be strictly impartial. Source Intercultural education at the university level: Teacher-student interaction, by N. R. Goodman, 1994. In P. Pederson (Series Ed.) & R. W. Brislin & T. Yoshida (Vol. Eds.), Multicultural aspects of counseling series: Vol. 3. Improving intercultural interactions: Modules for cross-cultural training programs (pp. 130-131). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Culture On JALT96: Crossing Borders Organiser un Séjour Linguistique en France pour des Étudiants Japonais: Première Expérience en Février-Mars 1996 Alain Lauffenburger Kagoshima Immaculate Heart University Introduction spécialistes de fancais de la Faculté Il est généralement de plus en plus d'Etudes lnternationales de l'Université du admis qu’un sejour linguistique dans le Coeur Immaculé de Kagoshima, une pays d’origine est essentiel à l’acquisition université catholique privée de jeunes filles. d’une langue et d’une culture étrangères. En 1995, j’ai proposé aux 13 étudiantes de 2e Cela me parait particulièrement vrai pour année (notre première génération les Japonais ètudiant le français, langue peu d'étudiantes) un séjour linguistique à connue et peu représentée au Japon. J'ai Strasbourg, France, en février et mars 1996. moi-même acquis la conviction au cours de Ce séjour a été entièrement organisé par mes neuf ans d’enseignement dans ce pays moi-même avec I’aide de ma femme Yoshie qu’un séjour linguistique dans un pays Lauffenburger-Hashido, et un groupe de 5 francophone était un complément indispen- étudiantes s’est constitué, que nour avons sable aux études faites ici même. Mais, bien préparé et accompagné. Comme je ne qu’un tel séjour soit plus accessible que maitrise pas suffisamment la langue et la jamais aux étudiants japonais, nombreux culture japonaises, notre université avait sont ceux qui ne veulent pas ou n’osent pas accepté sur ma demande que ma femme soit profiter de cette possibilité, ou, ne se sentant officiellement mon assistante bénévole, mais pas "prêts", remettent à toujours plus tard l'université considérait par ailleurs qu’il sa réalisation. Plusieurs institutions s’agissait de mon entreprise purement japonaises, convaincues de la nécessité d’un personnelle. Nous n’avons pas proposé ce tel séjour linguistique, l'intègrent dans leur séjour aux étudiantes de lère année car curriculum: ainsi, par exemple, l'Université nous craignions que leur niveau de français de Oou (Nakajima, 1995) et Kagoshima soit insuffisant (5 cours de 90 minutes par Immaculate Heart Junior College (Iwakiri, semaine x 28 semaines = 210 heures Ikeda, and Fujita, 1993). Notre université, d’enseignement au maximum). Cela est qui vient d’ouvrir ses portes en avril 1994, certes discutable, mais nous ne voulions pas n’a pas encore un tel sykstème. Comment prendre de risque pour notre premier essai. peut-on, dans ces conditions, convaincre les De fait, même dans le cas des étudiantes de étudiantes (et leurs parents) de l'utilité d’un 2ème année, plusieurs familles d’accueil séjour linguistique entièrement à leur d'étudiantes du groupe des 5 ont trouvé que charge? Est-il valable et rentable d’organiser le niveau de l'étudiante hébergée était un séjour linguistique? Je vais essayer de insuffisant pour une communication de répondre à ces questions et quelques autres base, du moins au début. Parmi les 8 dans ce rapport. étudiantes spécialistes de français de deuxiéme année qui ne se sont pas jointes au L’organisation du séjour linguistique groupe, 3 avaient déjà séjourné en France en Les étudiantes éte 1995, et 2 se réservaient pour un séjour Il s’agit dans notre cas d'étudiantes ultérieur plus prolongé. 168 Culture Le programme japonais) des deux points de vue suivants: Les 5 étudiantes ont suivi pendant 5 1) linguistique; semaines le cours de français langue 2) social, culture!, ou autre. étrangère de I’IIEF (Institut International Puis, un mois après leur retour, nous leur d'Etudes Françaises), un institut autonome avons demande d'auto-évaluer le degré de de 1'USHS (Université des Sciences réalisation de leurs objectifs. Humaines de Strasbourg) à Strasbourg . Nous avions choisi cette ville parce que c’est Les résultats ma ville d’origine, où habite ma famille et Nous avons évalue notre programme où nous, accompagnateurs, pouvions de divers points de vue, à savoir celui: de séjourner sans frais de logement I’IIEF; des étudiantes; des familles d’accueil; supplémentaires. c’est par ailleurs une ville des accompagnateurs; des enseignants de que je connais bien, y compris son université notre université avant et après le séjour. En où j’ai fait une partie de mes études. J’avais, gros, tout s’est bien passé, et les réactions lors d’un séjour précédent, négocié avec des étudiantes aussi bien que celles des I’IIEF des conditions particulièrement familles ont été positives, de sorte que nous favorables pour nos étudiantes. Chaque sommes relativement satisfaits des résultats étudiante était hébergée dans une famille par rapport à nos objectifs. Ma propre d’accueil, que nous avions dû chercher impression positive a été confirmée au cours nous-mêmes car I’IIEF ne s’occupe pas de de l'année par ma collègue française: les l’hébergement. étudiantes qui ont suivi le stage de Stras- Nous avons choisi la période de février- bourg ont progressé des points de vue de la mars pour les deux raisons suivantes: compréhension auditive, de l’expmssion orale et de la participation en classe; de plus, 1) Cette période est plus économique on note chez elles une plus grande maturité. pour les participants. Les billets Ceci est en accord avec le rapport de Ikeda d’avion, qui représentent une part (1993) sur les étudiantes de Kagoshima importante du budget de ce projet Junshin Junior College après leur séjour (environ la moitié du prix total), sont linguistique en Australie. bien meilleur marché en fevrier qu’en Selon la post-enquête au retour été. concernant les objectifs établis par les 2) En cette periode, on peut voir la étudiantes avant leur départ pour la France, France à "l'état normal”, alors qu’en celles-ci ont déclaré les avoir en partie été beaucoup de Français, et surtout atteints (Appendice l-a). Le fait que le degré les jeunes, partent en vacances. de réalistion de leur objectif linguistique n’a pas excéde 50% dans tous les cas sauf un Les objectifs peut être imputé à leurs objectifs trop Nos objectifs pour les etudiantes étaient ambitieux, par exemple “Je voudrais les suivants: leur faire mieux connaitre la acquérir la capacité de parler couramment le societé et la culture françaises; les faire français sans hésitation”, ou “Je voudrais progresser en français; leur faire apprendre pouvoir lire couramment des romans en à vivre et à communiquer avec des français." Néanmoins, selon leur auto- francophones. Comme contrôle, j’ai donné à évaluation (Appendice l-b), toutes les toutes les étudiantes de la même année participantes ont trouvé que leur capacité universitaire, aussi bien celles qui prirent linguistique (compréhension auditive, part au séjour linguistique qu’aux autres, le expression orale, compréhension écrite et même test à trous avant et après le séjour. expression écrite) s'était nettement D'autre part, nous avons demandé aux améliorée, et dans la majorité des cas familles d’accueil de remplir un question- qu’elle avait au moins doublé. naire à la fin du séjour. Les résultats de l'auto-évaluation nous Nous avons par ailleurs demandé aux permettent d’affirmer que, grâce à ce séjour étudiantes avant leur départ, afin de les linguistique, les étudiantes ont acquis une rendre plus conscientes, d’etablir une liste aptitude à communiquer en français et à d’objectifs, de buts ou de souhaits (en fonctionner de façon satisfaisante dans un 169 On JALT96: Crossing Borders milieu francophone, et en tout cas qu’elles les aspects culturels, sociaux, linguistiques, ont développé une confiance en elles-même etc., a été utile pour la plupart des qui peut leur être très favorable dans leurs participantes. Si l’on souhaite que les études et leur vie. étudiantes profitent au mieux d'un séjour Il est cependant à noter qu’aussi bien linguistique, il faudrait envisager une bonne les étudiantes que les familles d’accueil ont préparation soit comme une partie intégrale estimé que le séjour avait été trop court et du curriculum, soit sous forme de tours ou qu’un séjour plus long aurait été plus de séances hors curriculum. profitable: le leitmotiv à la fin du séjour était que les étudiantes venaient tout juste de Les familles cl’accueil s'adapter et commencaient à bien profiter. Nous sommes convaincus qu’un séjour La durée idéale d’un séjour linguistique en famille est la meilleure formule serait un point à étudier à l’avenir. d’hébergement de tous les points de vue, Quant à l’exploitation du test à trous sauf peut-être du point de vue financier, (voir l’appendice 2) elle a réservé quelques mais c’est une entreprise délicate aussi bien surprises. Elle confirme néanmoins, dans pour trouver les familles d’accueil, que pour tous les cas de figure, la superiorité le placement lui-même à cause des grandes linguistique significative des étudiantes différences entre les familles d’une part et ayant séjourné en France. Les tests à trous les étudiantes d’autre part. Il faut également sont généralement considérés comme être prêt à faire face à d’eventuels conflits. revélant bien l’aptitude linguistique Nous nous sommes nous-même occupés de générale (Hinofotis, 1987, p. 413). Le la recherche des familles et de la négotiation deuxième test à trous a dû être donné en avec elles, et nous avons trouvé que ceci n’a deux fois (test A et test B), car une partie des pas été rentable, parce que c’est un travail étudiantes n’a pas suivi mon cours du qui demande beaucoup de temps, d’énergie semestre suivant le séjour à Strasbourg. Il est et de nerfs. Il serait préférable qu’un à remarquer par ailleurs que l'étudiante 12 responsable sur place s’occupe du place- représente un cas particulier: étudiante en ment en familles, comme dans certaines difficulté au début de ses études, elle a fait institutions qui pmposent des cours de FLE un gros effort pour remonter la pente avant (Français Langue Etrangère). son séjour à Strasbourg, ce qui semble expliquer son bon score au ler test à trous; Les accompagnateurs par contre, à son retour de Strasbourg, elle C’etaient des intermédiaires n’a plus suivi aucun cours universitaire indispensables entre les étudiantes, l’IIEF et pendant un semestre, ce qui explique les familles d’accueil. Ce sont eux qui vraisemblablement sa chute de 16 points au avaient négocié les conditions de voyage et 2ème test. Pour ces raisons, ses résultats ne de séjour, et qui avaient trouvé les familles me paraissent pas significatifs; je les ai d’accueil. A l’arrivée a Strasbourg, ils ont fait néanmoins inclus entre parenthèses afin de le lien et ont aidé les étudiantes à s’installer ne pas donner l’impression de chercher à et à surmonter le choc linguistique et manipuler les résultats. psychologique. En particulier, les étudiantes et les familles d’accueil avaient du ma1 à Problémes et Perspectives communiquer au début, il y a eu des La préparation frustrations des deux côtes, et la présence et Il n'y avait eu que quelques séances de l’intervention des accompagnateurs ont été préparation technique et culturelle des très utiles. Ils ont également organisé étudiantes, et l'enquête a révéle qu’elles diverses rencontres et sorties. Les étudiantes n’avaient pas été suffisamment préparées et les accompagnateurs se sont réunis au psychologiquement et linguistiquement. moins une fois par semaine pour parler des C’est en grande partie parce que ce pro- programmes de la semaine et des éventuels gramme était hors curriculum et que la problèmes. Les étudiantes ont beaucoup plupart de cours n’avaient aucun rapport apprécié tout cela dans l’enquête au retour. avec le projet de séjour linguistique. Iwakiri D’autre part, les accompagnateurs (1993) fait remarquer que le cours donné aux étaient bénévoles, et ce séjour linguistique étudiantes préalablement au séjour traitant leur a occasionné des frais importants: 170 Culture leur a occasionné des frais importants: durée: un ou deux semestres. L’expérience voyage, télécopie et téléphone, transports des deux jeunes filles étudiant actuellement sur place, etc. L.e fait de ne pas avoir de à Strasbourg devrait nous permettre une budget pour ce travail s’est donc fait meilleure connaissance de l’effet de ce type ressentir lourdement pour eux. Si I’on veut de séjour. continuer ce projet chaque année, ce qui est de toute évidence dans l’intérêt des References étudiantes autant que de notre Université, il Hinofotis, F. B. (1987) Cloze testing: An faudrait à la longue un système pour aider overview. In Michael H. Long &Jack C. les accompagnateurs, par exemple la prise Richards (Eds.) Methodology in TESOL: en charge de tout ou partie de leurs frais par A book of readings. Rowley, Newbury l'Université ou les participantes. Cette House. 412-417. dernière solution serait envisageable dans Ikeda, S. (1993) An investigation of a Study l’hypothèse d’un groupe plus important de Abroad Program (2): Its Significance participantes. and effects. Bulletin of Kagoshima Junshin Junior College. 23:133-159. Kagoshima: Conclusion Kagoshima Junshin Junior College. Deux étudiantes suivent en ce moment Iwakiri, M., Ikeda, S. & Fujita, C. (1992) An un cours de français d’un semestre à l’IIEF investigation of a Study Abroad (Université de Strasbourg): de septembre Program(l): The Australia Exchange 1996 à janvier ou mars 1997. Ainsi, sur les Program of Kagoshima Immaculate treize étudiantes spécialistes de français de Heart College: Its History, Organiza- la première génération (actuellement en tion, and Effect. Bulletin of Kagoshima troisième année universitaire), dix ont déjà Junshin Junior College. 23:85-105. fait ou font actuellement un séjour Kagoshima: Kagoshima Junshin Junior linguistique en France. Cela crée College. incontestablement à notre Université une Iwakiri, M. (1993) “An investigation of a atmosphere positive par rapport aux séjours Study Abroad Program (3): Assessing linguistiques, et le niveau des études de the ideal way for students’ prepost- français s'en ressent favorablement. Il faut learning.” Bulletin of Kagoshima Junshin espérer que cet élan se maintiendra et même Junior College. 23:161-173. Kagoshima: s’amplifiera jusqu’à sa généralisation qui me Kagoshima Junshin Junior College. parait des plus souhaitables, car je suis, Nakajima, S. (1995) Kaigaikenshûo après cette expérience, plus convaincu que karikyuramu ni toriirete: Oou daigaku jamais qu’un séjour linguistique est essentiel furansu go furansu bungaku kano pour une véritable acquisition linguistique kokoromi (Un sejour linguistique et culturelle. La solution la plus satisfaisante intégré dans le curriculum: essai du pour tous serait à mon sens l’intégration département de littérature française à d’un séjour linguistique dans le curriculum. l’Université de Oou: Traduction par Il peut s’agir d’un séjour de courte durée Lauffenburger). Enseignement du français comme celui du printemps dernier dont au Japon. Association Japonaise des nous venons de parler, ou de plus longue Professeurs de Français. 24:63-65. 171 Appendice l-a: Un extrait de l'enquête au retour (Note: les numéros des étudiantes correspondent à ceux de I’appendice 2) Question: Marquez le degre d’achèvement général de vos buts /100%(en vous référant ce que vous aviez indiqué avant votre départ 1. Concernant le français 2. Vie. culture, autres Etudiante Etudiante 9 50% 9 70% 10 50% 10 70% 11 50% 11 50% 12 50% 12 80% 13 80% 13 90% Appendice l-b: Un autre extrait de l'enquête au retour Questions: Auto-évaluez votre capacité en français en la comparant avant et après le séjour en France. Jugez votre capacité de 0 à 100: 0 = pas capable du tout; 100 ne signifie pas “parfait”, mais “capacité comparable à votre capacité en japonais”. 1, Compréhension auditive 2. Expression orale 3. 4. Expression écrite 5. Communication* 6. Connaissance** Etudiante avant aprés avant aprés avant aprés avant aprés avant aprés avant aprés 9 30 50 30 50 10 30 5 30 30 60 30 50 10 30 60 30 55 40 65 35 65 35 55 35 70 11 050 0 25 0 25 0 20 0 30 0 25 12 10 50 10 50 20 50 20 50 10 50 20 50 13 45 60 30 60 45 55 45 60 45 75 50 75 *Capacité générale à communiquer selon la situation, en utilisant toute ses connaisances et des gestes, etc. **Connaissance de la vie et de la culture françaises. - Appendice 2: Resultats du test a trous Etudiantes Sejour ler test Sejour 2e test 2e test Sejour Difference entre specialistes linguistiquc a trous linguistique a trous A a trous B linguistique le ler et le 2e de francais Ete 1995 3 1/1/96 Printemps 20/6/96 14/10/96 actuel test a trous Avril 1994- /100 1996 /100 /100 Sept. 1996- Groupe I 1 40 42 +2 2 46 36 -10 3 47 34.5 Strasbourg -13.5 4 51 59 +8 6 Tours 58 66.5 +8.5 7 Tours 60 61 +1 9 30 Strasbourg 39 +9 10 39 Strasbourg 49.5 +10.5 11 54 Strasbourg 59 +5 12 69 Strasbourg 53 -16 Le groupe I re roupe les Btudiantes n'ayant pas fait de sejour linguistique de francais entre le ler et le 2e test a trous, alms que le groupe firegroupe les etudiantes ayant fait un tel sejour Difference rn~yenne entre les resultats aux ler et 2e test par groupe I et II (entre parentheses, les chiffres inciuant l'etudiante 12 ): Groupe I Total -l/8 = -0.125% Groupe II Total +28/4 = +7% (Total +12/S = +2.4%) Rksultats aux deux tests a trous regroup& selon le critbe: A = n’ont as djour& en France; B = ont sejourn6 en France (entre parenthbes, les rbultats incluant l’btudiante 12). Tous les ch .&.s mdlquent la moyenne du groupe. ler test A 49.72 B 56.33 Diffbrence +6.61% (51.5, Diff. +4,48%) 2e test A 48.90 B 56.14 Diff&ence +7.24% (55.75, Diff. +6.85’S) l Explication dans le texte. W5 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Everything You Need To Know Begins At Kindergarten Laura MacGregor Seishu Junior College This paper begins with the premise that the same approaches to socialization and the more we know about our students, the education, this time from the beginning of better we can serve them as language formal education. It then occurred to me teachers. “Serving our students,” for the that these approaches could and should be purpose of this discussion, means creating a carried through in collcgc classes, even positive environment in which English those taught by non-Japanese teachers. learning takes place. “Knowing our This paper will outline five aspects of students“ divides into three broad kindergarten life, based on my experience as categories: 1) cultural background; 2) social teacher and observer at Seishu Fuzoku and educational background; and 3) Yochicn, (MacGregor, 1996) and how I have personal and family background. integrated them into my college classes at In the context of living and working in Seishu Junior Collcgc. Japan, the first category, culture learning, is a part of daily life. Teachers who know Structure something about Japanese culture and who At kindergarten, there is a set structure bring that knowledge to the classroom can to the day. This is in marked contrast to relate better to students than teachers who home life, where, at least until children enter know nothing about their students’ cultural kindergarten, they can pretty well do what backgrounds. Teachers who create they like, when they like. An example of the opportunities to communicate with daily routine at kindergarten is the opening students, both in and out of class, can learn of each day: children come in, change their about students’ personal lives (category 3) shoes at the door, enter the classroom and - family situations, friends, home and put their coats, hats, and bags away. The school life, etc. This information enhances class formally begins with a spoken the teacher’s recognition of students as greeting, bowing, and a greeting song. Next, individuals with various abilities and needs, the day, date, and weather arc checked. not just as numbers on a class roster. Then, attendance is taken by roll call, College teachers often miss out on the followed by the distribution of attendance second category, knowing about students’ stickers by the teacher which children put in social and educational backgrounds, their attendance books. Songs and signals particularly if they haven’t had experience act as markers that define the sections of the teaching or interacting with younger day. The teacher uses the piano to play students. In my case, I feel fortunate to have different tunes which children learn to been able to teach at Japanese junior and identify as signals to clean up their toys, get senior high schools before I became a college ready for lunch, get ready to go home, etc. teacher in Sapporo. Those experiences gave The structure oxhibitcd in the me insight into the socialization and kindergarten day is noteworthy for two educational training of students, aged 12 reasons. First, once children learn the through 18. Three years ago, I had the routine, they know what is expected of them opportunity to enter the world of every day, and therefore can relax and move kindergarten, where I was able to observe 174 Culture with confidence and ease. Second, the group life...” (Ministry of Education, 1989, guidelines for kindergarten education set p.4). At kindergarten, activities are done out by the Ministry of Education states that sometimes as a class, sometimes in small children should “experience things groups of 4-6 children, and rarely in pairs, important to their development by unless the activity is a game or dance. demonstrating their abilities in an Groups ate of three different types: fixed emotionally secure environment” (Ministry teacher-selected, child selected (i.e. free-play of Education, 1989, p.1). The structurally groups), or formed by lottery. Different secure environment provided by the daily groupings give children opportunities to schedule helps create this desired interact with many others during the emotionally secure environment. kindergarten day (i.e., work groups, lunch At college, too, teachers need to foster a groups, seating groups). sense of trust in and by the students and In college English classes, pair and create an environment where they feel safe group activities are popular means of and secure. One way to do this is is to maximizing students’ L2 “talk time.” provide some sort of routine or structure to Sometimes, however, this approach fails the lesson. Students will feel less anxiety if because either students don’t talk at all, or they know what is expected of them. Critics they revert to speaking in Japanese. Why do may say that a fixed structure takes away groups fail here when they worked so well the spontaneity of the lesson, restricts the at kindergarten? Simply put, we are dealing creativity of the teacher, and puts students with young adults, not with 3-to-5-year- to sleep. While this may be true to some olds. Furthermore, we are not working in a extent, too much spontaneity leaves real-life situation as kindergarten children students confused and helpless. The net are when they are asked to build or make result is that they won’t participate in the something together in their groups; we are lesson simply because they don‘t know working in a contrived setting because we what to do. are asking students with the same mother There are ways to introduce structure tongue to communicate with each other in a into the lesson that will not impede the foreign language. Therefore, it is completely lively atmosphere many teachers work hard natural that students feel uncomfortable to create. For example, using a good talking with their peers in English; they are textbook in which the presentation of anxious about making mistakes and about materials and structure of the activities is damaging their self-image. How can consistent from unit to unit gives students a teachers minimize this anxiety? One way is visible anchor, which, if it is mastered to vary the way pairs and groups are during the first unit, will steer them through selected by occasionally letting students pair the rest of the book. Classroom procedures or group themselves with their friends. such as taking attendance and collecting and Obviously, pairing up with a friend to returning homework can be standardized to practice the question, “What did you do last contribute to a structured setting. Letting weekend?” doesn’t make much sense students know exactly how much time they because the friends have probably already have to do an activity can help define the discussed their weekend activities together parameters of the lesson: knowing they have in Japanese. The key for teachers is to be 5 minutes to complete a task will focus sensitive to students’ self-consciousness and students’ attention and keep the class to strike a balance between student-selected running efficiently and teacher-selected groups appropriate to the activity. Japanese students see groups as The Group places to work together. Teachers must Since kindergarten is one of the first support this by creating a positive socialization experiences outside of the environment for groups to function. home, it is not surprising that one of the goals of preschool education set out by the Step-By-Step Learning/Repetition/ Ministry of Education is to “teach the joy Review and importance of relationships with others Step-by-step instruction is integral to by the experiences the children gain in kindergarten life. The following example of 175 On JALT96: Crossing Borders how scissors were introduced clearly College teachers need to remember to illustrates this step-by-step process. First, repeat and review material. It is easy to fall the teacher showed the children a large pair into the habit of working steadily through a of scissors she had made from cardboard course or textbook, and not take time to look and foil for this demonstration. She talked back. Without clear direction from the about what scissors could and could not be teacher, however, students are unlikely to used for. Then she reviewed the information practice or review material themselves. with the children: “Can we use scissors to Regular homework, and periodic review cut our hair? Our skin? Our clothes?” To activities and tests will encourage students each question, the children answered with a to make review and reflection a natural part loud, ‘No.” Then, the teacher asked, “Can of the learning process. we use scissors to cut paper?” All answered, “Yes.” Next, the teacher demonstrated how Curiosity to hold and use scissors. The children One of the most refreshing aspects of modelled her actions using “imaginary’ teaching at kindergarten is that the children scissors. After showing them how to handle, are full of questions which they are eager to pass and receive them, she gave each of the ask. They are very curious about their children his/her own pair of scissors. At Canadian teacher - why she has brown last, the children were allowed to try cutting hair, why she can speak English, where she paper with their scissors. As well as lives, what she eats. They also want to talk heightening the anticipation of being able to about themselves and any opportunities to use scissors by themselves, children learned do so are exploited fully. the process as a series of steps. Although they might not be quite as At college, the concept of teaching step- energetic, college students have questions by-step can be applied as a layered for their teachers, too. They are interested in approach to introducing and using new knowing about us as pcoplc. Therefore, it is language. For example, a topic can be important to share our cxpericnccs with introduced by moving gradually from the them --they remember our stories! While general to the specific, or put another way, teachers are right to bc wary of too much from the familiar to the unfamiliar. Listening “teacher talk,” spending a few minutes from exercises in good textbooks generally ask time to time to simply talk about first for general information then for specific themselves, to explain something about information about a taped excerpt. their culture, or to give their views on a Receptive activities (i.e. where students current topic, is not only interesting, but is select answers from a list) precede also good listening comprehension practice. productive activities (i.e. where students Students who understand the story, or at generate the response completely on their least part of it, will have a great sense of own). achievement. The others who can’t keep up Once the procedure has been explained, will get it in translation from their friends. it is practised over and over again. In the same kindergarten class, children were Motivation taught how to make origami dogs. After Kindergarten children arc highly self- finishing their first one, they happily made motivated. Generally speaking, they need another, then another, then another. By the little in the way of encouragement to get end of origami time, children had made five involved. Even so, teachers spend a lot of or six origami dogs each. Ruth Benedict time preparing and explaining the purpose offered the following explanation for this of activities. One day, a teacher planned to kind of repetition: “It is the habit that is have students draw pictures to reflect on the taught, not just the rules,...the movements operetta that the kindergarten had are performed over and over literally under performed the previous weekend. She set the hands of grownups until they are up the activity by saying, automatic” (in Hendry, 1986, p.102). The saying, “practice makes perfect” certainly See your pictures on the wall holds true here, with a greater emphasis on behind us now? They’re the ones the practice, or the process, than the result. we made way back in September 176 Culture after sports day. Now, you know, for attendance. To focus students‘ attention next week your mothers will visit and motivate their curiosity and kindergarten, and if we leave those participation, puzzles and questions with an pictures up your mothers will say, element of mystery to them are guaranteed ‘Oh, those pictures are so old. We to spark interest. saw them the last time we visited kindergarten. Can’t these children Conclusion draw anything new? Let’s not The above paper has provided an disappoint your mothers. Let’s outline of five teaching approaches that are draw beautiful pictures of the integral to kindergarten education, and operetta. some concrete steps towards integrating them at the college level. No doubt there are Even without this explanation, the children many more areas that need to be taken into probably would have been quite happy to consideration in order to create a satisfying draw the pictures. However, the added college learning environment for both motivation of their mothers’ visit and the teachers and students. By taking a few steps responsibility bestowed on them by the back, even as far as kindergarten, teachers teacher, guaranteed that every child would can gain perspective on how this can be do his/her best. achieved. At college, we can also motivate our students to want/need to get involved. The References key is to give them a reason for doing so. Hendry, J. (1986). Becoming Japanese: The For example, practicing how to tell time can world of the pre-school child.. Honolulu: be helpful preparation for travelling abroad University of Hawaii Press. (which more and more students are doing MacGregor, L. (1996). An overview of these days); assigning short speeches help Japanese kindergartens. The Language develop public speaking skills which are Teacher, 20(5), 11-14, 32. important in job interviews (some of which Ministry of Education. (1989). Kindergarten are partly conducted in English). Stronger education guidelines. Tokyo: Author. incentives for participation include bonus point systems and giving separate grades Native Americans and Europeans, Ainu and Wajin: Culturally Relevant EFL Content- Based Social Studies Comparative History Curriculum Design at a Japanese Junior College Robert E. Gettings Hokusei Gakuen Women‘s Junior College Content based language teaching has 1989). Some studies on language content been described as “the concurrent teaching have indicated broad issues of cultural of academic subject matter and second relevance for students that arise from the language skills.“ (Brinton, Snow & Wesche, type of world English taught (Kachru, 1996) 177 On JALT96: Crossing Borders or the inclusion or exclusion of the students’ creating a climate for education for critical mother languages in instruction (Auerbach, consciousness. 1993). Movements within the language Accepting the decentering of the West teaching profession represented by globally, embracing multiculturalism, organizations such as Linguapax or global compels educators to focus attention on the issues interest groups have stressed the issue of voice. Who speaks? Who listens? relationship of language learning to And why? (hooks, 1994, p. 40). teaching about culture and society. (Marti, For Freire and hooks, education - 1996; Dyer & Bushell, 1996). Social studies involving critical consciousness - is curricula have also been linked to national culturally relevant to all of the members of goals such as the movement for a the classroom, teacher and student alike, multicultural curriculum in the United because it is a dialog in the cultural codes of States. (Furmanovsky, 1995) the members about the cultural world they This paper will examine the find themselves engaged in. A pedagogy relationship of students’ cultural identities that does not take students’ voice or cultural to curriculum design decisions involving the codes into account, and encourage critical selection of social studies content, consciousness, retards or prevents pedagogical process, and classroom education. management. The classroom is a complex The location of voice is particularly web of culture going beyond national important for language learning. Critical identity, involving locations of gender, class, reflection requires meaningful language race, ethnicity, age, and other identities or production as students and teacher write/ experiences of members, teachers and read speak/listen to each other’s knowledge students alike. Each individual entering the and reflect on the dialogue critically A classroom carries a unique social/cultural focus on student voice requires the kind of identity, and a unique history of learning active and meaningful use of the target and experience. The English as a Foreign language that many educators have claimed Language (EFL) content based social studies is necessary for successful language learning curriculum takes place within this web and (Krashen, 1982). its content examines some aspect of human The location of voice is also important society and culture. Can an examination of in creating culturally relevant content in the this relationship help us make curricula EFL content based class. Each student mom culturally relevant? speaks from a unique cultural location of Paulo Freire (1970) identifies two kinds class, gender, race, or other identity. As the of education: banking education and teacher engages with student voice, the education for critical consciousness. In content of the curriculum can be adjusted to banking education the teacher deposits meet students’ cultural needs. Student information in the students’ minds as one reflection/criticism also can influence the might deposit money or valued possessions pedagogical approach. In this way, the class in a bank The teacher, the active subject of becomes mom and more culturally relevant the exchange, is the valued location of to all its members. knowledge. The students, not seen as In the banking approach, the teacher as locations of knowledge, are passive objects expert decides the cultural relevance and receiving that knowledge. Freire proposes a only the teacher’s voice is heard. Often new pedagogy education for critical unaware of students’ unique cultural consciousness, which engages students and experience, the teacher has no data on which teachers together in an active process of to base curriculum design decisions apart critical reflection and praxis in dialogue from his/her own experience or observation with the world around them. of passive students. bell hooks (1994), coming from the In education for critical consciousness, location of an American multicultural each student is a valued location of college classroom, broadens Freire’s focus knowledge, essential to the class. Each by including students’ cultural locations of student investigates texts and the voices of class, race, gender, age and other identities other members of the class and creates and their influence on student voice in knowledge in a community of critical 178 Culture reflection. The classroom becomes comparing North American and Japanese decentralized. As students explore new History For the teacher to identify his own problems, they need access to large amounts voice is an important part of the curriculum of knowledge. In an EFL teaching situation, development process. The writing of this that knowledge is often not available in the paper itself, has been part of an ongoing target language; however, there may be a process of critical reflection/praxis in the wealth of textual sources in the students’ author’s development of the curriculum. native language(s). Furthermore, new The teacher is not an objective academic technologies, such as the Internet, may be “he” being described, but an active subject especially useful in providing a variety of “I” in an historic context of dialogue with target language sources. (Halvorsen & the voices of students. Because of this, the Gettings, 1996; Gettings, 1997). first person, rather than the academic third Teachers must adjust the content the person will be used in the following class covers and use methods suitable for description. the mix of cultural locations and codes The pedagogical approach was to students bring to each individual classroom. present students with information from a The teacher approaches curriculum design variety of points of view in texts and with the same process of critical reflection lectures. Students would identify points of and praxis that students use in approaching view and distinguish fact, opinion, and the content. The teacher might design materials authors’ selection of facts in the texts. based on dialogues with students and his/ Students would explore their own her own understanding of the target knowledge in small group discussion and content. As the class becomes engaged with journal writing related to the general each other’s mflections, the curriculum is themes, discuss differences and similarities adjusted or may even take on a new in the two histories, and make decisions direction. It is at this point that the about their own point of view of the history curriculum becomes truly relevant of contact between indigenous peoples and culturally and personally to students. colonizers. In this way, the problem-posing In designing this unit, I chose these educator constantly re-forms his reflections themes because national identity, race, in the reflections of the students. The ethnicity, and a sense that Japanese were students — no longer docile listeners — are different from all other peoples were now critical co-investigators in dialogue constant themes in discussions with with the teacher. The teacher presents the students. Also, class members were living material to the students for their in Hokkaido, one of the homes of the Ainu consideration, and re-considers his earlier people. I hoped that students would find considerations as the students express their the unit interesting and gain a richer sense own. (Freire, 1970, p. 68) of their history and national identity as Japanese. An EFL History unit: Ainu and Wajin, The texts included the voices of Native Native Americans and Europeans - Americans (Reyna, 1992), European and What was similar? What was Eumpean-Americans (O’Calaghan, 1990; different? USIA, publication date unlisted), Ainu (Kayano, 1994; Ainu Minzoku The author has taught History to Hakubutsukan, 1993) and Wajin (Enomoto, second year junior college English majors in Hokkaido, Japan for the past four years. 1983). I also presented my own and other During that time, themes of gender, national points of view in lectures, At first, students read stories of identity and ethnicity have often arisen in European explorers (O'Calaghan, 1990; dialogues with students and he has used a USIA, publication date unlisted) and problem posing approach concerning these examined the point of view of the writers. I themes in the study of units on comparative North American, United States, Japanese, lectured on some of the negative aspects of contact with Europeans: the spread of Hawaiian, and Korean History. disease, loss of land, disruption of economy, Following is a description of one unit, . suppression of culture, and the 179 On JALI96: Crossing Borders psychological aspects of conquest. Students been different. However, when each discussed what parts of the story they minority group was discussed and students would include in a history of contact were asked what characteristics were between Europeans and Native Americans. different, it was decided that, in fact, the Following was a lecture and reading on the differences between minority and majority frontier in North America as multicultural Japanese were almost invisible. - a mix of North American and European Following this we explored the reasons cultural groups. The Iroquois-English and why differences were kept invisible in French-Huron alliances and the status of Japan. 1 asked students to personalize the women in Japanese, English, and Iroquois discussion by imagining what they would society in the 1600s were compared. feel if they were an elementary student and Students discussed which situation they felt a member of a minority. Would they want was best for women. their classmates to know their minority After completing the North American identity? segment of the curriculum 1 intended to rely The problems related to minorities in on students’ knowledge of Japanese History Japan that I posed for student discussion and add only a few details in lecture before I were new to the curriculum. They asked them to compare similarities and developed as I listened and responded to differences between North America and students’ reflections and students listened Japan. However, during a brainstorm to see and responded to mine. I realized that I had what they could remember about Ainu- not included Ainu voices in the content and Wajin history, most students stated that the that students had not heard these voices didn’t know or hadn’t learned any relevant even though they were in the Japanese information in secondary school. The media. Desperately searching for a way to images of Ainu people that arose during include these voices, I found English and discussion were mostly based on racial Japanese resources on the Internet and a caricatures. Students expressed the belief colleague loaned me a private video tape of that there were either no more Ainu living a speech by Kayano Shigeru, a in Hokkaido or that they only worked in representative from Hokkaido who is Ainu, resort areas such as tourist villages. to the Japanese Diet. Students did not have the information The unit ended with a video on Pueblo that 1 had expected. The lesson plan could History (Reyna, 1992), a discussion of not continue as 1 had planned it. Also, “Columbus, the Indians and Human another question arose that was related to Progress” (Zinn, 1980) and writing an essay the curriculum. How would students’ based on the comparison of the histories of views of Japanese minorities effect their Japan and North America and the points of understanding of Japanese History or of view of the colonizers and the colonized. themselves as Japanese? 1 pursued these issues by asking Reflections on the pedagogical process students to discuss questions in small of the unit groups and report their results to the class. As part of the process of critical What were the major minority groups in reflection/praxis, the teacher engages with Japan? Had they ever met members of these student voices, reflects on the messages or minority groups? How could they tell if criticism, and adjusts the pedagogical they had met a member of a minority process or content of the curriculum. This group? kind of engagement is often uncomfortable, Most students could not list more than especially when the teacher makes mistakes one or two of the major groups: Ainu, or misunderstands the students’ knowledge Korean-Japanese, Chinese-Japanese, or cultural locations. Nevertheless, the Ryukyu-jin, or burakumin. After these process is always valuable because it is a minority groups were identified, most rich source of data for improving students were certain that they had never curriculum design. met a minority group member because the Before the lesson I had posed several person’s face, clothing, way of speaking problems for myself related to pedagogical Japanese, or social customs would have process. What effects did my location of 180 Culture race, national identity, gender, and as experiences of members. In order to create a teacher have on the process of discussion? culturally relevant learning environment, Issues of race, ethnicity, and caste are near the voices of all members must be engaged invisible and not important to most majority in the learning process. Freire’s approach of Japanese. Was I forcing an issue? Were critical consciousness and hooks’ attention these issues really culturally relevant? to student voice, cultural codes, and the During the course of the lesson four major locations of gender, class, and race offer problems were posed from engagement teachers two valuable models for with students: curriculum development and pedagogical practice. Engagement with student voice 1. Was I forcing student voice by requires constant alteration of the content requiring them to express an answer and pedagogical process of the curriculum. to a question in front of the entire Although this engaged pedagogy has its class? difficulties, it provides a rich source of the 2. Was I including Ainu voices in the kind of data that is essential for developing process?; curricula that is culturally relevant to 3. Was I adjusting the process in students. consideration for the members of the class who might be invisible minority References members, especially Ainu? Ainu Minzoku Hakubutsukan. (1993). Ainu 4. Was I ignoring gender in the content, bunka no kiso chishiki. Tokyo: Ainu process and cultural codes of the Minzoku Hakubutsukan. classroom? Auerback, E. (1993). Reexamining English only in the ESL classroom. TESOL My reflection from observation of class Quarterly, 27, (1). discussions and student feedback was that I Brinton, D., Snow, M. & Wesche, M. (1989). was not addressing these problems Content-based second language instruction. adequately. I attempted to address the New York: Newbury House Publishers. forcing of voice by reducing whole class Dyer, B. and Bushell, B. (1996). World discussions, allowing students to pass, and issues or a global perspective? The putting the emphasis on reflection in small Language Teacher, 20 (11), 10 -18. groups or private journal writing. I Enomoto, M. (1983). Hokkaido no nkishi. attempted to find more Ainu sources as the Sapporo, Japan: Hokkaido shinbunsha. class progressed. Although I tried to ease Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. tension that invisible class minority [Translated by Ramos, M. B.]. New members might feel by asking students to York: The Seabury Press. imagine and discuss hypothetical situations, Furmanovsky, M. (1995). Defining and by sharing my and friends’ experience American History: Politics and the as minorities, I feel that this alone was not controversy over the National standards adequate. Finally, the texts and lectures for United States History. Kobe University included women’s stories but were Faculty of Cross Cultural Studies No. 5, mediated by a “neutral” male voice. In the December 1995. future, I want to include texts that speak Gettings, R. (1997). Integration of from a location of gender, both male and computers and, the Internet with a female. My students are especially process approach to teaching reading, interested in gender because of their writing and EFL content based classes location as young women beginning adult in the college core curriculum. Journal of lives experiencing increasing gender Hokusei Junior College, 43, (in discrimination in the job market. publication). Halvorsen, J. & Gettings, R. (1996) Conclusion Designing and teaching a content-based The classroom is a complex web of course. In G. van Troyer & S. Comwell culture going beyond national identity, (Eds.). Curriculum & Evaluation: involving locations of gender, class, race, Proceedings of the JALT 1995 International ethnicity, age, and other identities-or Conference on Language Teaching/Learning 181 On JALT96: Crossing Borders (pp. 34 - 38). Tokyo: The Japan peace. The Language Teacher, 20 (10), 33 - Association for Language Teaching. 37, 44. hooks, b. (1994). Teaching to transgress: O’Callaghan, D. (1990). An illustrated Education as the practice of freedom. New history of the United States. Essex, York: Routledge. England: Longman Group UK Limited. Kachru, B. (1996). Norms, models, and Reyna, D. [Director]. Ladd, E. [Producer]. identities. The Language Teacher, 20 (10), (1992). Surviving Columbus: Thestory of 15 - 21. the Pueblo people. [Video]. Albuquerque, Kayano, S. (1994). The current situation of NM: KNME-TV. the Ainu in Japan. In Nibutani Forum United States Information Agency [USIA]. Organizing Committee (Eds.), Gathering (Publication date not listed). An outline in Ainumoshir, the hnd of the Ainu: of American History Washington, DC: messages from indigenous peoples of the United States Information Agency. world, 16 - 35. Tokyo: Eiko Educational Zinn, H. (1980). Columbus, the Indians and and Cultural Institute. human progress. A people's history of tk Krashen, S. (1982). Principles and practice in United States. pp. 1 - 22. New York: second language acquisition. New York: HarperColins Publishers. Pergamon. Marti, F. (1996). Linguapax, languages and Folklore in the ESL Classroom Virginia A. Jenkins Showa Women’s University Folklore, a language-rich medium them and the vast regions from which they which manifests itself in myriad spring and to which they spread. The Jack expressions, recipes, customs, tales, myths, Tales (originally from Scotland and legends, superstitions, rituals, riddles, England) were used to teach children games, and art, is communicative in nature. acceptable norms of behavior within the Folklore is meant to be heard, felt, sung, Appalachian community. Through written, spoken, and, in some cases, even storyteller Ray Hicks’ renditions of eaten. Like language, folklore endures as “Whickity Whack: Death in a Sack,” long as it remains meaningful to human children learned the values of self- beings’ lives as it is “diffused through time sufficiency and fairness to others, in spite of (passed down through generations) and class distinctions (Higgs, Manning, and space” (spread from one region to another), Miller, 1995). Folklore survivals can also (Georges and Jones, 1995). Certainly, the preserve values such as respect for life, Hmong’s Pandau Flower Cloths, colorfully peace and harmony as seen in the ancient embroidered quilts originally designed to Origin tales of the Hopi Native Americans depict familial rites of passage, but later of Arizona (Wilson, 1994). used to recount the Hmong’s horrific escape In this paper, I hope to shed some light to freedom across the Mekong River at the on folklore’s versatility for teaching English end of the Vietnam War (Conquergood, as a second language and on its potential for 1992), give testimony to a folklore sample’s communicating across cultures. The paper ability to adapt itself to the changing times. presents an argument for using folklore as a Undoubtedly, folklore also represents a springboard to design and integrate moveable mosaic of cultures, mirroring the listening, reading, writing, and speaking traditions of diverse peoples who create activities that, although at first may seem 182 Culture pedagogic in design, can still lead to in application -although they are done in communicative and creative uses of class, they could conceivably be done in the language in the classroom. Several graphic real world as well. (Nunan, 1989). For organizers, some suggestions for using example, note taking is an in-class activity, folktales, and a brief list of recommended vital to students’ success in their course folktales are provided. work yet also an activity necessary for a number of occupations in the real world, Communication: A Social Event such as journalism or business. In any act of communication it takes a On the contrary there are willingness on the part of both sender and communicative tasks that would rarely be receiver to do what is necessary in order to done in the real world but contain authentic be understood. As quite often the case, language, some of which may be used in communication between two parties takes real-life contexts (Nunan, 1989). For place in a social context, (Berns, 1990) and, instance, creative activities such as dramas therefore, gestures, face to face contact, and imaginative role-plays use authentic pausing before responding, and other language, yet, it is hardly likely that paralinguistic gestures employed in the real students will have an opportunity to world occur when trying to communicate perform a folk cure, let alone receive one, in (Hymes, 1974). the real world. However, it is possible that Naturally, scholars believe that teachers while practicing how to perform a folk cure should design learning tasks for the in class, a humorous activity to break up the classroom which most resemble these kinds ice, students can learn medical terminology of problem-solving strategies for about disease, how to give advice in the communicating in real world situations such form of if-conditionals and imperatives, and as asking for directions to a company learn the social dynamic of what to do and conducting job interviews or ordering from say when visiting the doctor to explain a menu, etc. (Nunan, 1989). symptoms of illness. The question still nags: what can be The Battle Between the Tasks: done to encourage learners to partake in a Pedagogical or Communicative? number of language activities as they try to The debate over the value of solve the overall problem of being pedagogical tasks as opposed to understood? How do we get students to, in communicative tasks is a heated one at best. the words of Nunan, “put language to use?” In effect, since pedagogical tasks require (Nunun, 1989) students to do things in the classroom that would rarely be done outside the classroom A Treatise for Teaching Folklore (such as listening to an audio tape of a news First and foremost, we should develop program and having to take a quiz on the activities that students enjoy doing. As topic introduced), scholars argue that they previously stated, folklore provides a are less meaning-focused and should not be multitude of interesting trivia and stressed as much as communicative tasks humorous stories, but unless the activities (Nunan, 1989). For example, Nunan points created from the materials can spin off out that having students listen to a weather relevant themes of interest to students, forecast to decide whether or not to bring an unless they can provide chances for students umbrella to work is based in real world to experience them from their unique kinds of communication more than it is in perspectives, and unless they can decode pedagogic activities, because it demands some of the complex language typical of that language learners engage in problem authentic materials ( i.e. jargon, idioms, and solving, something senders and receivers of other regional varieties) students may lose messages do when they try to “negotiate for interest in the meaning” in the real world (Nunan, 1989). materials, and teachers may lose an Yet, there are difficulties in opportunity to supplement their lesson differentiating a communicative task from a plans with some fun and exciting learning pedagogic one, since some tasks may be tasks. pedagogical in structure but communicative Perhaps one available compromise 183 On JALT96: Crossing Borders would be to build a bridge between both second-year university students both pedagogical and communicative tasks practical skills to apply in the real world, as through the use of advanced organizers that well as to encourage them to make ease learners into a number of integrated connections between the texts and their speaking and listening activities. Schemata experiences. A number of graphic theory research suggests that schematic organizers were used to break up the organizers and pm-thinking activities complexity of the folktale’s language and supply students with background length and to ease the students into listening knowledge which may aid their and speaking activities before they actually comprehension of texts (Omaggio read the tale and before they wrote an origin Hadley, 1993). For example, if teaching a tale tale of their own. The popular African about a character who shows impatience by American origin tale, “How the Snake Got rolling his eyes, one can create a pre- his Rattles,” as told by Julius Lester (1969), is thinking task for the students: matching a hilarious but moving tale about a snake phrases to pictures of gestures, followed by who cannot avoid being stepped on since he a speaking task in which pair groups discuss has no way of alerting others to his location their results and then perform a skit using in the forest. As a result, he complains a lot the gestures before reading the folktale. So, about being stepped on. if, for example, students in Japan do not use As a way to bounce off the theme of this expression to show impatience, perhaps complaining in the tale and to give students the condition for the context can be created the chance to complain about something in for the students through first a graphic their lives, I provided them with a graphic organizer and then a speaking and listening organizer of various phrases to use when activity to aid their comprehension. making complaints. Next, they listened to a summary of the folktale and in groups Conclusion wrote down all the characters’ complaints Although I agree that good lessons every time they heard them, before actually require realistic goals, as well as good reading the folktale. materials, if lessons are to have some Another material, a folk song about an positive effect on our students, I have found illegal alien living in the United States, “My that the quality of materials can sometimes Name Joe” by Dave Massengill (1989), was make or break a lesson. Overall, my motives played in class. Students were given an for using folklore were to provide diverse organizer to match the idioms to their texts and materials to create opportunities meanings in the song and discuss in pairs for students to learn about other cultures the concepts - what does it mean to be an and respond to them from their experiences, outsider in the song? In Japan? In their day- to provide some cohesion in the themes and to-day lives? the sequencing of the tasks, to integrate, as Finally, in preparation for writing the much as possible, the powerful mediums of origin tale, students returned to the “Snake“ language folklore provides (that which can folktale to discuss what Snake was missing be heard, spoken, gestured, written, read, (his rattles) and how his loss affected the and created), to provide opportunities for action in the story. Later we chose an object students to create language in role plays and (a squid) from which to model an origin dramas, and to be sensitive to the idea that tale in class. Inspired by Snake’s anatomical they might need visual cues and other kinds loss, we created a Squid who could not of organizers to help them build swim. In a brainstorming session we asked: background knowledge to grasp the What kinds of problems would Squid have meaning of some of the materials - if he could not swim? How would Squid especially when working with authentic solve his problems? Would Squid have materials. friends to help him solve his problems? In a speaking and listening task Rationale for Some Materials Used in students were given the name of a Japanese Class: Working with Origin Tales food and had to guess the name of their In this unit I used a number of materials partner’s food. Each student had to describe with converging themes in order to give the food to his or her partner. Later, they 184 Culture used the descriptions gleaned from their an investigative reporter to interview guessing game to help them write a short another student portraying the main origin tale about the food. Some exceptional hero of the folktale. Are there tales were written; one student’s origin tale opportunities for the teacher and stood out among the others, “Why is O- students to perform the tale together? Mochi Sticky?” 6. Can the folktale be dissected? For Working with Recipes example, can the ending be removed Students interviewed their partners so that students can write a new about their favorite foods. Later, they ending or vice versa? compared them to foods from different regions to build upon background 7. Can the folktale be personalized to knowledge before writing a recipe for create a sense of place - reset in a making 0-Mochi. Students compared student’s hometown or recast with Fasenachts of the Pennsylvania Dutch to O- someone the student knows: a friend, Mochi, using an organizer and interview relative, teacher, or you? chart. Ideas to Think About when Using Some Multicultural Folktales with Folktales in Class Universal Themes 1. Do folktales have parallels between Here is a short list of world folktales the themes of the tales and the issues mentioned for their relevance to “Crossing students face in their lives? My Borders” and their universal appeal to those students were interested in foods, committed to making connections across health, and popular culture, so my cultures. classes used similar themes: health and beauty/folk cures; foods/recipes “Hiaka,” a Hawaiian folktale; (Cut from different regions of America; from the same cloth American women and popular culture/ heroic folktales. of myth, legend, and tall tale, by San Souci/Pinkney, Philomel Books, 2. Can interesting tangents be siphoned New York, 1993, pp.l21-128). from the main topic to create new Themes: love triangle, power tasks that lead to use of other struggles, reconciliation, peace and authentic materials? For example, in war. a Hopi origin tale “Coyote Decorates the Sky,” students interviewed each “Buddha Prevents A War,“ a other about poems and songs with folktale from India, (Peace tales: stars in them before reading the World folktales to talk about, by folktale. Margaret Read Macdonald, Linnet Books, 1992, pp. 89-90). Themes: 3. Do the tales introduce “appropriate” reason, problem solving, content. Beware; some tales have compromise, peace and war. ethnic slurs and sexist language. How could you use these kinds of tales to ‘The Fly,” a Vietnamese folktale, teach respect for people of diverse (Favorite folktales from around the cultures? world, by Jane Yolen, Pantheon Books, New York, 1986, pp. 55-57). 4. Is the complexity of the dialect Themes: triumph over injustice, the manageable? How can you use this underdog, reason and common complexity to your advantage-to sense. teach grammar and reductions? ‘The Dancing Children,” a folktale 5. Can students perform roles to from the Onondoga Native increase their understanding of the Americans, (Multicultural myths and tale? Students might take the role of legends: Stories and activities to 185 On JALT96: Crossing Borders promote cultural awareness, by Tara communicative language New York: McCarthy, Scholastic Professional Plenum Press. Books, 1994, pp. 89-90). Themes: Conquergood, D. (1992). Fabricating culture: unrealistic demands, compromise, The textile art of Hmong Refugee cooperation. women In E. Fine & J. Speer, (Eds.), Performance, culture, and identity, (pp. “Why People Speak Many 214-218). Connecticut: Praeger Press. Languages,” a Seneca Native Gorges, R. A., & Jones, M.O. (1995). American folktale, (Spinning tales Folkloristics: An introduction Indiana: weaving hope: Stories of peace, justice Indiana University Press. and the environment, by Joseph Hymes, D. (1974). Foundations in Bruchac, New Society Publishers, so&linguistics: An ethnographic approach. Philadelphia, Pa., 1992, pp. 160-l). Pennsylvania: University of Themes: peace and harmony, Pennsylvania Press. barriers, group versus the Lester, J. (1969). How the snake got his individual, and the power of rattles. Black Folktales. New York: Grove language. Press. Massengill, D. (1989) My Name Joe. On “Urashima the Fisherman,” a legacy: A collection of new folk music. Japanese folktale, (Tales alive: En recording: compact disk. Windham Hill multicultural folktales with activities, Records. by Susan Milford, Williamson Nunan, D. (1989). Designing tasks for the Publishing, 1995, pp. 103-7). communicative classroom. Cambridge: Themes: trust, bargains, debts, love Cambridge University Press. and sorrow. Omaggio Hadley, A. (1993). Teaching language in context. Boston: Heinle and “How the Stars Fell into the Sky: A Heinle Publishers. Navajo Legend,” (The Navajo Native Reese, J.R. (1995). Ray Hicks and the oral Americans, by Jerrie Oughton, rhetorical traditions of Southern Houghton Mifflin Company, Appalachia. In Higgs, R., Manning, & Boston, 1992, pp.l-30). Themes: N., Miller, J (Eds.) Appalachia inside out: A disappointment, impatience, the sequel to voices from the hills, culture and price for progress, and trust in a custom. ( pp. 497-498). Tennessee, trickster. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press. References Wilson, T. (1994). Hopi: Following the path of Berns, M. (1990). Communicative Language peace. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. Teaching. Contexts of competence: Social and cultural considerations in Redefining our Educational Parameters Eton F. Churchill, Jr. Kyoto Nishi High School JALT 1996 has given us an opportunity between the classroom and the real world to consider the constructs within which we and the differences in approaches taken to pursue our profession. In particular, the English education . In addition, Dr. Kachru conference asked us to reflect on the made an eloquent argument for redefining ‘barriers’ that influence the decisions we the way we view World Englishes, thereby make in designing curriculae. The ‘barriers’ encouraging participants to deconstruct the mentioned in plenary sessions and in ‘barriers’ that exist between the Englishes individual presentations included the gap spoken and taught in regions as 186 Culture geographically diverse as Indonesia and the exciting, if somewhat uncertain, rapids England. Furthermore, the delegation from of content-based instruction. Caught in the Linguapax argued that the languages taught flow of information, the skipper and crew around the world can be an instrument for are left to the devices of their collective cross-cultural understanding both across decision making abilities and their skill in and within national borders. Finally, many resourcing information. Each one of the presentations gave concrete illustrations of decisions made in the planning process how teachers can use global issues in their helps define the boundaries of the entire EFL classes to bridge the boundaries’ that educational experience. First, one needs to exist between disciplines. As we make the decide the issue that will be discussed by transition from this fruitful and important the students. Secondly, the organizers need discussion back into the reality of the to determine which UN body would classroom, we should appraise our work for normally debate the chosen issue. Once this its ability to address the questions posed at decision has been made, one can quickly JALT ‘96. The Model United Nations has learn which countries are represented in the the potential to address many of these given UN body at a given time. These concerns. countries will be the ones that the participants in the MUN will research and The MUN in an EFL context eventually represent. Finally, the planners The Model United Nations is a need to decide who the participants in the simulation of the United Nations system in MUN will be. The decisions regarding which learners take on the role of delegates which topic, which UN body, which to specific countries to debate issues of countries and which participants are international import. Muldoon (1992, p. 2) required of all MUNs and each one of these has stated that the Model United Nations decisions allows the organizers to challenge (MUN) serves a tripartite educational the ‘barriers’ that may exist in the minds of objective of content, process and product. the delegates as well as those that persist in As learners prepare for their participation at the views held by institutional the actual event - the product, they go administrators. through the process of researching and The first decision that must be made is developing a specialized understanding of perhaps the most important as it regards the issue and their assigned country's the topic of the MUN conference. While the position on the issue -the content. In terms proceedings of the UN provides a plethora of EFL tasks, the MUN is an elaborate of agenda items to discuss, the curriculum jigsaw activity in which learners not only planner is well advised to take their time in exchange unique knowledge, but are also making the decision of which topic to made responsible for the retrieval and debate as the topic is most influential in acquisition of specialized information. determining the language that will be Furthermore, they must work together in required of participants. For this reason, it cooperation with their teachers to create a is important to take into consideration the shared schema regarding the topic of their level of the students, their background in MUN conference and the proceedings of the global issues and the lexicon of the agenda United Nations. While the ability of the items under consideration. A MUN debate MUN to help students cross the borders’ of on the environment will stimulate the use of cultural understanding are most a very different lexicon than a discussion transparent, the MUN in the EFL setting over arms control. For this reason, also disintegrates many of the perceived organizers of MUN conferences in EFL ‘barriers’ discussed at the 1996 JALT settings have tended towards social and conference. environmental topics. Regardless of the focus that is taken, the Redefining the educational moment a topic is chosen the classroom is environment transformed into a venue for The very decision to conduct an MUN interdisciplinary education. To illustrate this liberates the students and teachers from the point, one need merely to review the agenda bindings of a single text and casts them into items of past MUN conferences hosted by 187 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Kyoto Nishi High School. Organizers and educational parameters of an MUN delegates have tackled agenda items as simulation is the selection of participants, or diverse as family planning, the rights of the delegates, to represent the selected girl child, indigenous peoples, and the countries. While one can easily conduct an Palestine question. As students research MUN within the traditional confines of a and debate an issue such as family planning, single classroom, the decision over who will they are required to draw from and build be the delegates provides yet another upon their knowledge of science, health, opportunity to challenge the parameters economics and mathematics. This that are imposed on the classroom. interdisciplinary study is guided by the EFL Delegates can be taken from an entire instructor as he/she seeks out and selects institution, or from all students of a certain materials, but it can be facilitated by willing age group within a given region. As the specialists in other subjects. In this way, the preparation process often necessitates mere selection of a topic to debate is an communication between delegates leading invitation to cross the ‘chasm’ that is up to the event, an MUN can be most easily traditionally maintained between conducted with participants coming from a disciplines. Moreover, the need to obtain single locale. However, as will be illustrated current information on the issue drives later in this paper, the rewards of drawing students and teachers to seek out resources delegates from a greater geographical area beyond the confines of the institutional are enticing. walls. Thus, the choice of topic not only weakens the barriers that exist between The preparation process academic departments, but also challenges Once the students have chosen their the traditional notion of educational setting. countries and begin their research, they start Once the conference topic has been using their language skills to build an chosen, the MUN organizers need to settle understanding across the physical, on the UN body that will be simulated. This epistemological and psychological ‘barriers’ decision requires some basic knowledge that exist between countries and between about the activities and proceedings of the the cultures within those countries. This United Nations, but is easily made after search takes the students’ use of their L2 out consulting an encyclopedia or a local United of the classroom and places them in direct Nations Information Center. For example, contact with the Englishes of the world. one would expect to find the main This claim can be supported by a brief discussion of family planning at the UN to overview of the process involved in be conducted in the Population Commission preparing for the MUN at Kyoto Nishi High or the Economic and Social Council. Thus, School (KNHS). if the topic of an MUN were family When the students are assigned their planning, one would have students simulate countries, they are often disappointed the proceedings of ECOSOC or the initially. A typical comment from the Population Commission. To facilitate students might be, “Ghana? I wanted to be research, one should attempt to approximate Australia or England!“, followed by the activities of the United Nations as “Where’s Ghana?“. They then go to a map closely as possible, so it is important to on the wall or consult an almanac and thus determinecurrent membership on the begin their journey to cross-cultural committee or commission that one has understanding. One of the first assignments chosen (Again, a UN Information Center given to the students is to write a letter to can prove an invaluable resource for this the country embassy in Japan and to their task.). Thus, the decision regarding the assigned country's permanent mission to agenda for the MUN conference dictates the the United Nations to request background committee that is simulated. In turn, the information on the country and material actual countries that the students will specifically related to the agenda of the research and subsequently represent are MUN. More often than not, they receive a indicated by the membership of the package of information with an committee at the time of your conference. accompanying letter from an employee of The final step to defining the the government that the students are 188 Culture representing. In most cases, English is the current information on the World Wide Web. government employee’s second or third A second area in which the students use language. their English in a real world context is that In the event that material does not come of support for the conference. Students at to the students in a timely manner, the KNHS are required to work on a committee students are encouraged to make a with specific responsibilities in preparing telephone call to the embassy in Japan to for the conference. One group of students follow up on their letter. This real world works with a native speaker on developing task demands that the students negotiate a program for the event and another group with a speaker of an English that is quite cooperates with another teacher to plan for a different than their own and different from post-event celebration. Yet another group is that of their Canadian, Australian or assigned the task of being press American teachers. The students representatives and they work to contact the predictably complain that it is difficult to local media. As students work with their understand the other speaker’s English. teachers to create materials (placards, name Later, the students interview other nationals tags, etc.) and plan other aspects of the from their assigned country living in Japan event, they use their English for real and make subsequent contact with purposes. The communication is real and it government officials. Through this process, occurs largely beyond the confines of the what begins as a complaint over the forty-five minute class. differences in Englishcs evolves into an An additional area of real understanding that such Englishes exist and communication for real purposes stems that communication is successfully from the decision that KNHS has made conducted in spite of the differences. regarding participation. To date, KNHS has Furthermore, this contact with speakers of had the luxury of keeping the event open to other Englishes prepares the students for the all high schools intcrcstcd in participating. conference where they are called upon to This decision has allowed us to promote the speak with exchange students hailing from use of English for real purposes, to cross the countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, the physical space that exists between Netherlands, Korea, and Japan. By the end institutions, and to challenge the stereotypes of the MUN conference, all prejudices commonly held regarding the roles of regarding a perceived hierarchy of Englishes teachers and learners. As students prepare are not eliminated, but the students have for the event and negotiate with participants taken a chisel and have started to reshape from other institutions, they send faxes and the indoctrinated foundations upon which e-mail messages to each other in their L2. their perceptions of the world rest. Because the students use these In addition to the real world task of communications to negotiate with each writing letters to the embassies and other over country policies, they become permanent missions and interviewing each other’s teachers. Moreover, since they nationals living in Japan, the students also are conducting this communication beyond use their L2 in other settings beyond the the confines of a single institution, the walls classroom. For example, students at KNHS that separate our institutions grow thiner. are required to go to the United Nations Beyond the obvious gains to the depository and search for relevant United learners, the network of participating Nations documents. As the large majority of schools also provides opportunities for these documents are in English, the task of cooperative teacher development and finding appropriate information calls upon allows Japanese teachers of English to work the students to conduct their search in their with native speaking colleagues. To prepare L2. The students also use the English for the 1996 Kyoto MUN, teachers from newspapers as a regular resource and, twelve institutions met three times recently, they have begun conducting throughout the year to plan and to exchange searches for information on the internet. teaching materials. Beyond the Many of the permanent missions to the organizational meetings, regular United Nations, NGO’s and governmental communication between the participating departments provide a large amount of schools was maintained through faxes and 189 On JALT96: Crossing Borders phone calls to address any questions that question by demonstrating that a broader arose and to insure that things were running definition ofeducational setting creates according to schedule. As three of the opportunities to deconstruct the barriers participating schools had Japanese nationals that are often viewed as impediments to as their principal instructors, the ongoing our profession. The planning process for an planning and communication afforded MLJN turns perceived barriers into native speakers of English and the Japanese opportunities for language use for real nationals an opportunity to work together in purposes and also places our students in planning the educational event. This direct contact with the Englishes of the cooperation not only allowed the MUN world. Moreover, the act of preparing for facilitaters to work across what are normally participation in an MUN demonstrates to perceived ‘barriers’ of institutional walls, the students that their linguistic resources but also made inroads to the improved can lead them to greater cross-cultural understanding of differences in teaching understanding. As used by KNHS, the style. MUN also helps bridge the gap between English instruction by Japanese nationals Conclusion and that of native speakers of English. With At JALT 96, Kachru repeated his this in mind, the MUN hosted by KNHS question of ‘What are the implications of our may serve as a possible answer to the notion of a speech community?‘. From this concerns brought up at JALT’96. we may extrapolate the corollary of ‘What are the implications of our notion of an Reference educational setting?‘. The use of an MUN in Muldoon, J. (1992). The Model United Nations an EFL context addresses this second in Brief. New York: United Nations Association of the United States of America, p 2. Commonly Asked Global Issues Questions Jessica Newby Kawata Sanyo Gakuen University David Peaty Ritsumeikan University Donna Mclnnis Soka University Other Participant in the Discussion: Junko Mukainakano Towada Junior High School Introduction alone a foreign language. There are many Teaching global issues is a growing problems that teachers encounter when they field within the EFL/ESL world. It is a use global issue content in the classroom. broad field that encompasses a wide variety This discussion will address some of those of topics including human rights, poverty, problems. the environment, refugees, AIDS, and cross- cultural issues, to name just a few. These are How can we make global issues fun difficult topics. For some people they are without trivializing them? difficult to discuss in their own language, let Issues like hunger, poverty and 190 Culture oppression are not entertaining and should goal. Reinforce the positive side and not be. They are relevant, urgent and very emphasize what the students can do as real—but not fun. As language teachers, members of society to help solve these we have no obligation to entertain, but we problems. must maintain interest and motivation. How? How can we make a global issues program learner-centered? Vary the activities Nunan (1988) recommends that we For example, when working with a involve the learner in each stage of the potentially boring text, teachers can use curriculum. In our content-based quizzes, predictions, brainstorming, curriculum, we are especially concerned skimming, scanning, critical reading, note- with planning, implementation and taking, summary, jigsaw, matching texts evaluation. with titles, reordering scrambled sentences, and matching sentence halves. It is also 1. Planning. Teachers should first helpful to incorporate other kinds of analyze students’ needs and materials such as listening, writing, determine their goals. Then students speaking, role plays, games, videos, and teachers together should decide interviews with other people, and materials on selection of themes and resources or guest speakers from NGOs. Keeping the and methods of final assessment. students moving, thinking, sharing, 2. Implementation. A contract between drawing, singing or listening to “music with the teacher and learner is made so a message” are other ways. that the learner takes responsibility For teachers trying to create materials for learning. There should be plenty and activities, it’s important to remember of learner input and exchange of that any standard activity used in teaching, ideas during this stage. such as the games “Snakes & Ladders“ and 3. Evaluation. There needs to be learner “Tic-Tat-Toe” can be adapted to global issue feedback on the tasks, procedures topics. and resources. This should be incorporated into the later stages of Vary the resources the program and any future program. Resources don’t need to consist solely of a textbook or article. The more varied, the Other ways to encourage learner- more interesting the topic becomes for the centered classes are to include cooperative student. Possibilities include questionnaires, learning, group work, and self discovery, comics and cartoons, headlines, photos, and to devise small research projects, at the quotes, data, artifacts, fiction, poems, case end of which students share what they have studies, videos, songs, interviews, puzzles, learned with the class. student-generated materials based on Development of both interpersonal and research, Ll news, and short talks by the intrapersonal (reflective) intelligence is very teacher. important when dealing with global issues in the classroom. Students may already be Emphasize problem solving concerned about these issues, but this Students like puzzles; global issues are process allows them to examine their huge problems crying for a solution. feelings and attitudes towards each issue. Reinforce the positive side and emphasize For some students, this is the first time that what the students can do as members of someone has asked them their opinions, so society to help solve these problems. they need time to reflect on their ideas and Cooperative learning exercises and views on these subjects. student-centered activities involve the When having the students choose the students, increasing their interest and topics for the semester in a global issues motivation. Let the students make the framework, the teacher generally provides discoveries for themselves. Design task- the content, but the students can write the based projects and hands-on projects. Have discussion questions themselves, with students create something. Work towards a questions exchanged in class between 191 On JALT96: Crossing Borders groups. Also, students can devise projects issues are an appropriate context. We for their own homework. are thus fully justified in using reading or listening texts dealing How do we evaluate learner with issues already covered. We must performance and progress? never evaluate opinions when individual learners, for final grades or grading, but we should evaluate how proficiently opinions are expressed. remedial work For example, we could have students 1. Criteria must be established at the listen to statements about topics they outset and not changed unilaterally. have already discussed and then It’s important to be as objective as write their opinions, which would tell possible, so for grading performance us a) if they understood and b) how on project presentations, for example, well they could communicate their we should prepare a standard form opinions. listing relevant criteria such as pronunciation, grammar, fluency, and content, and grade them for each Of the whole program criterion according to a numerical We can include measures which show scale, adding up the total score at the how well the content has been understood, end and returning the form to the and evaluate students’ response to it. But we students so they can find out their still must focus on how well our language strong and weak points. This form objectives have been achieved, because for should be shown to students at the the administration, the students, the parents beginning of the program so they are and our colleagues, this is a language fully aware of how they will be program, not a social studies course. graded. How can we exploit authentic global 2. Weekly quizzes, homework, presen- issue resources for EFL (bearing in tations and final tests can be used for mind that they are often too difficult evaluation. We can also evaluate for learners)? students by monitoring their group- College classes work, checking their projects and 1. Using authentic reading research, and keeping a binder or Authentic reading is not a problem per portfolio of all work done by each se; the students should bc able to student. We should try to balance the understand it with some help. If there is no subjective (e.g. scores for challenge, there is no progress. Nuttall presentation) with the objective (e.g. (1982, p. 146) says we should get the scores on reading and listening students started and then stand back and quizzes). Students should be made to watch them struggle, but if it’s too difficult take responsibility for their learning, they will be frustrated. So, how can we grades and organization, with a goal help? of “genuine understanding“ by means of which the students are able l We can activate schema before to take what they learn in the reading (brainstorm, question and classroom and apply it outside the answer, discussion, etc.). classroom. l We can provide key words and concepts in Ll or in clear L2 context, 3. In accordance with the agreed goals or provide L2-Ll glossaries. of the program, content is a means l We can provide questions that direct towards an end; that end being readers’ attention to the main ideas. higher language proficiency. We are l We can simplify, guide, explain, therefore not justified in testing exemplify and elaborate points for acquisition of content knowledge the students. (e.g. global issues), we can only test l We can give the learners plenty of acquisition of language. However, we time to do the reading, for example, must test this in context, and global 192 Culture as homework which is collected and Sources such as The Daily Yomiuri graded. environment pages can be used by high school students for research activities on 2. Using authentic listening issues such as endangered species in Japan, This can be a major problem, because it but students should be provided beforehand is quite difficult for them. And playing the with a glossary, either English to English, or tape over and over is not the solution. Ask English to Japanese, so all their time isn’t yourself the question, could they consumed by looking up words in the understand it if they read the tapescript? If dictionary. not, abandon it. Materials available from Educators for If they could understand the tapescript, Social Responsibility and Social Studies the task may be simplified by: School Services are applicable and useful for both college level and high school. Materials l increasing and lengthening pauses aimed at native speaker middle school l providing key words and phrases or students are often appropriate for lower an outline level EFL students. Some activities in books l giving a simple summary first designed for native speaker high school l pausing and elaborating or reading students work quite well with Japanese aloud college students, and can be adapted for use l providing the tapescript before they at various levels. listen Conclusion Using other resources, for example data, This discussion has attempted to pictures, cartoons, and surveys, in most answer four key questions about the use of cases may pose no problem. global issues content in EFL classes. For answers to other questions, please refer to High school classes Cates (1992). The goal of high school English should be to raise proficiency to the point at which References they can understand unsimplified text and Cates, K. (1992). Commonly asked questions speech. Most high school third year students about global education and language read materials which are almost authentic teaching. The Journal of the Faculty of (with a lot of help). Below third year, General Education, Tottori University, 26, authentic materials other than those 267-293. designed for children are seldom accessible Nunan, D. (1988). The learner-centred because of the vocabulary and grammar, curriculum. Cambridge: Cambridge and because of subject matter and cultural University Press. limitations. Artifacts, however, are Nuttall, C. (1982). Teaching reading skills in a accessible; so are chants, diagrams, maps foreign language. London: Heinemann and photos. Educational Books. Geography in the Global Issues Classroom Jessica Newby Kawata Sanyo Gakuen University Introduction astounded me. I’m from California. I used Like many teachers who teach global to wonder how the students got the notion issues, 1 am concerned about the students’ that California is a country, as well as why lack of geographical knowledge. On they didn’t realize that both San Francisco numerous occasions the students’ ideas and Los Angeles were actually in California. about the locations of certain countries has These weren’t the only ideas that astonished 193 On JALT96: Crossing Borders me. Others include that Africa is one countries are in the world. This leads to the country, that Paris is in England, and that final reason. the Great Wall of China is in Thailand. The list of incredulous ideas about geography Geography is fundamental in teaching goes on and on. I’m sum each teacher has global issues their own stories to tell, too. According to Cates (1990, p. 41, one of the goals of global education is knowledge Why is geography important? about problems in the world. If I want to Holistic view of the world teach about human rights, or poverty, it’s The holistic view of the world presents essential that the students have some the earth as being one entity, a whole, as knowledge about the country or countries in opposed to all countries being separate from question. It’s difficult to jump into the each other. Each of its parts influences problem of human rights abuses in a certain every other part; they are all country if the students don’t have any interconnected. With this view, our information about that country, such as individual countries are not as important as where it is located, the climate, land, culture, the whole itself. Yet being part of that whole and history - these are basic facts that are requires knowing about the other countries an integral part of geography that will also that make up the earth, their locations, basic aid in comprehension of the issue. Also, if facts, and in what ways each country affects there is some knowledge, some relevance or another. connection to their lives, their interest and understanding of the issue in question We live in the global age increases. Through information technology like Some of the following activities I computers, the Internet, and the mass designed myself; others are games that are media, our lives am becoming increasingly available through educational materials intertwined and linked. The “global companies for which I’ve created follow-up village” is being built at this very moment. activities. Some of these games I’ve had to Since we are being exposed to other adapt to language teaching, to the class size, countries and cultures on a daily basis, some and of course to the class level. basic knowledge of them is essential. When playing games it’s also important to remember that this is a good opportunity On a personal level for students to use the target language in a Not only are we connected to the real situation, so be sure to prepare them world through technology, but we are with the necessary vocabulary for playing involved in it with the clothes we wear, the games. food we eat, the cars we drive, and the appliances we use. Everyday we come in For example : Whose turn is it? contact with the world, whether we realize It’s your turn. it or not. Realizing and comprehending this Next. notion is another essential part of teaching Pick a card. global issues and geographical skills. Geography Activities Insularity and Japan Geography Game Many countries in this world are Materials needed: A map including a list of insular, concerned only with their own capital cities and a handout. The handout country. Students in the U.S. are infamous consists of questions such as : for their poor geography skills. Students in Is it above/below the equator? Japan are also quite uninformed about the Is it in the north? South? East? West? world. The commonly held view in Japan 1s it a big country? Medium-sized? is that the country and its people are trying Small? to internationalize, but how can this happen Does it border . ? when students can’t tell you where Thailand Is the capital ? is? Or Mexico? Or Germany? Part of Is it -.? internationalizing is knowing where 194 Culture Students work in pairs. One student of the countries on the postcards. chooses a country, the other student must Have them fill it in either while ask the above “yes” or "no" questions about they‘re guessing, or after you’ve gone the location to find out what country it is. over the answers. 3. Give the students a map with the World 7 countries on the postcards Materials needed: World 7 card game highlighted. Have the students Students get into groups of 4-5. Each match the postcard with the country. student gets a map and 7 cards. The first 4. Discuss the images on the postcards. player to get seven countries (cards) that are What can you tell about the country bordering wins. from the photo? Follow-up: World Geography & Famous Places 1. Have the students choose one Materials needed: Trivia games World country out of the countries on their Geography, Famous Places cards. They went on vacation there. The students take turns asking and Each member in the group will ask answering questions for each card either as one question about that vacation. a team, or individually. The person or team Remind them to use their with the most right answers wins. imagination!!! Continue so all members have answered questions. Follow-up: 2. Do an oral report on one of the 1. After the student has answered the countries on the cards. question, have them locate the place 3. Choose one global issue (e.g. and mark it on a map. poverty). Have each student bring 2. Have the students make a large map information on poverty for one for the classroom, drawing in the country. Compare and discuss the different places on their cards. Or causes and effects of poverty in those each team can make a map for one countries. continent, including famous places, cities, mountains, etc. Postcard Game Materials needed: postcards or photos from References around the world Cates, K. (1990). Teaching for a better Optional: map world: Global issues in language Place numbered postcards from various education. The Language Teacher 14 (5), countries around the classroom. 3-5. Variations: Note 1. The students, in pairs or individually, Some of the educational games noted in go around the room and guess what the text are available through Social Studies country that postcard is from. Go School Service, 10200 Jefferson Boulevard, over the answers as a class. Room 13, PO Box 802, Culver City, CA 2. Give the students a blanked out map 90232-0802 USA. 195 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Gender Issues In Language Education Thomas Hardy Tamagawa University Amy Yamashiro Keio University Cheiron McMahill Gunma Prefectural Women’s University Gender issues in language education mote publications specifically on gender has received relatively little attention, issues within the EFL context. particularly in Japan, given the importance Considering how often gender issues of the topic and the pervasive ways it serve as topics for thematic units in content- influences language, language acquisition, based English courses or to perk up an culture, and teaching. Increasingly, however, English conversation class, it was not educators are using gender issues as topics difficult to gather educators to write on this for discussions or as thematic units within theme. Moreover, sexism in language, content-based courses - courses that constraining gender roles, and inequality are encourage students to use the target issues that educators must face both in and language for acquiring knowledge (Brinton, out of the classroom. What and how to teach Snow & Wesche, 1989). The topics a gender requires choices. These choices directly issues course can include - such as the affect our students in terms of their cultural family, gender roles, and sexuality - have knowledge, attitudes, and awareness of an obvious appeal for educators. Such topics what is appropriate to say and do within an can generate high interest, are relatively English speaking environment. In short, easy to relate to student experience, and there is a clear need for all educators to raise have volumes of accessible authentic their awareness of these issues and for materials; all of which allows language researchers to develop the themes learning to be contextualized in a realistic Sunderland (1994) outlines in her excellent and pragmatic form. Each of the three volume, Exploring Gender: Questions and papers presented in the session, Gender Implications for English Language Education. 1 issues in language education, critically To place the matter clearly within the addressed specific gender based issues and Japanese context, Fujimura-Fanselow and topics of interest to language educators in Kameda (1995) have produced a fine Japan. collection of original and translated essays. Finally, in line with the rationales for Why Gender in the ESL Classroom: A global-education, meaningful content that Modest Proposal was seen as relevant at either the personal In this paper, Yamashiro discusses the and/or professional level motivated writers rationale for producing a monograph on to produce multiple drafts and actively gender issues (Casanave & Yamashiro, participate during each of the peer review 1996), its relevance for language education, sessions. In terms of professional and its motivating effect for the writers development, the writing process helped the involved in the project. One reason for contributors to further clarify both the creating this volume was the clear need for complexity of the issues and the diversity of opinions held. 196 Culture Teaching About Social Inequality And gender content, such as Thelma and Louise or Gender In The Language Classroom Steel Magnolias. The groups watch the films In the second paper, Hardy explores and fill out a worksheet asking them to ways teaching about social inequality and summarize the film and find instances in it gender in English classrooms in Japan of gender based preferences in access to crosses boundaries, for students and wealth, power and prestige. The instructor teachers, by helping to both reflect on their collects these worksheets in the following assumptions and responses to the topic. class and immediately has students He starts by reviewing his personal, interview experts on other films -an professional, and social motives for teaching extended information gap activity. a class on gender inequality. The speaker’s With a fair grasp of the forms and personal experience of social inequality as a operations of gender inequality in another member of a relatively marginalized sexual culture, in this case the anthropological orientation awakened him to the Other being the United States, students turn pervasiveness and power of the inequalities their attention to Japan. In groups they such groups face. Professionally, he studied generate short reading and discussion anthropology and sees the discipline as passages on selected aspects of gender committed to the study of social inequality inequality in Japan and share these with and gender issues (Wolf, 1982; Gailey, 1987). other groups. They then watch and analyze Also, he sees anthropology as a discipline in films as they did for the United States. The which the Other (formerly exotic and final class project is short individual papers. primitive cultures) is used to inform an Student comments on end-of-term understanding and critique of one’s own evaluations indicate a successful class in culture (Diamond, 1974). The writer’s social terms of language acquisition including motives come from his sense that teachers vocabulary, “1 learned to make ourselves the have an obligation to teach critical thinking words of reports in English” (Yukiko); skills and social awareness, in addition to listening comprehension, “1 think you will the manifest content of their classes become understand native English” (Postman & Weingartner, 1969; Dale, 1995). (Kayoko); and speaking skills " I learned to These motives interact with and compliment communication by speaking in English with the explicit goals of content based English the other people” (Toru). The course helped classes: language acquisition and increasing develop social and group skills, ‘To social awareness. cooperate with group member is Hardy then describes the teaching of a interesting” (Akiko), “1 noticed hard and class in gender inequality He starts by pleasure of the group by the project. 1 dividing the class into small groups and thought the group was hard but it was very asking students how societies divide enjoy and became study for me very much” themselves into groups. After a short (Miho). discussion period, he has each group write Students also commented on their its answers on the blackboard. He then intellectual development. They seemed to reduces the students’ list to the basic have learned to recognize gender sociological categories of sex, class, age, inequalities in their own lives and the lives ethnicity, and race. He asks students, “What of those around them. ‘There are many discrimination to women around me. I have is divided unequally among these groups?” never thought about why women cook? Or, ‘What does society give the lucky Why women must clean? . . . I think it is bad groups and keep from the unlucky groups?” to say you can’t do it because you are a girl Again, students discuss the question in or you must do that because you are a boy. groups and write their collective answers on All men and women is same man. So we the board. And again, Hardy reduces these must not make a discrimination men and to the classic sociological rewards of wealth, women, 1 thought” (Akiko). power, and prestige. Students read and A further success of the class has been discuss brief passages describing gender raising the awareness of the instructor inequality in the United States. They then concerning his cultural assumptions about form groups and each group is assigned to gender relations and the functions of watch and analyze one film with strong inequality in maintaining social stability 197 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Forging Alliances: Grassroots officially contracted to teach a small group. Feminists Language Education in the One reason for this is that feminist Tokyo Area pedagogy, with its roots in leaderless In the third paper, McMahill describes consciousness-raising groups and a movement towards grassroots feminist collectives, has emphasized egalitarian language education which has been relationships between students and teachers invented by independent groups of women and posits equal importance between in response to a growing awareness of the experience and feeling as legitimate sources limitations of existing educational of knowledge (Weiler, 1994). institutions in nurturing cross-cultural feminist consciousness. Conclusion In grassroots feminist language Taken as a whole, the three papers education, the participants are feminists in clearly stress the need for language teachers search of a second language or cross- and students to recognise the extent to cultural contacts in order to engage more which gender-related issues pervade our fully in activist or feminist work, and the language and lives in ways that are as goal of the classes extends beyond mere political as they are pedagogical. Indeed, a language acquisition to the empowerment more basic need is recognize that the two of participants. It is a means whereby ". . . cannot be separated. We urge educators to participants study themselves, name the construct an atmosphere in their schools and problems that need to be researched, collect classrooms that will help them and their data, and analyze them, thus generating students develop this awareness. their own knowledge, and ultimately produce plans for action based on the References results of the research” (Auerbach, 1994, pp. Auerbach, E. (1994). Participatory action 694495). research. In A. Cumming, (Ed.), In her paper, McMahill uses her Alternatives in TESOL research: personal experience with feminism and Descriptive, interpretative, and feminist language classes in Japan, data ideological orientations. TESOL gathered with these sources through Quarterly, 28, 693-703. questionnaires and interviews to identify Brinton, D. M., Snow, M.A. & Wcsche, M.B. and describe four modes of grassroots (1989). Content-based second language feminist English/Japanese language instruction. Boston: Heinle & Heinle. education alive in the Tokyo area - namely Casanave, C.P. & Yamashiro, A.D. (Eds.) peer tutoring, peer language exchange with 1996. Gender issues in language education. a facilitator, small language study groups, Tokyo: Keio University, SFC, Research and feminist language schools. Motivations Memo of the Institution of Languages for choosing these over other options, such and Communication. as commercial language schools, are Dale, J. (1995). Critical thinking and cultural explored. The paper concludes that analysis in the Japanese university. The grassroots feminist language education has Language Teacher, 19 (11), 61-62. emerged as a means of resistance, not only Diamond, S. 1974. In search of the primitiw. against the content, but also against the New Brunswick (N.J.): Transaction/E.P. pedagogical practice of Japan’s dominant Dutton. educational paradigms. This is because the Fujimura-Fanselow, K., & Kamcda, A. (Eds.) instructor works within structures (1995). Japanese women: New feminist controlled by the learners, and implicit in perspectives on the past, present, and this is at least a partial relinquishment of the future. New York: The Feminist Press at educator’s role as an expert or depositor of CUNY. knowledge. Gailey, C.W. 1987. Kinship to kingship: gender The author observes that these feminist hierarchy and stateformation in the Tongan language education experiments provide the Islands. Austin: University of Texas opportunity to break down and redefine Press. traditional power relations between teachers Postman, N. & Weingartner, C. (1969). and students, even when an instructor is Teaching as a subversive activity. New 198 York: Dell. history. Berkeley: University of Sunderland, J. (Ed.) (1994). Exploring gender: California Press. Questions and implications for English language education. London: Prentice- Note Hall International. 1 Earlier versions of these papers have Weiler, K. (1994). Freire and a feminist appeared in Casanave C.P. & Yamashiro, pedagogy of difference. In McLaren, B. A.D. (Eds.) 1996). We thank the editors of & Lankshear, G.F. (Eds.) Politics of that volume for their help in working liberation: Paths from Freire (pp. 71- 96). through the ideas, materials, and London: Routledge. organization of these papers. Of course, any Wolf, E.R. 1982. Europe and the people without errors of omission or commission that remain are the responsibility of the writers. Culture, Variation And English Language Education* Yamuna Kachru University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Introduction perceived needs of the international This paper looks at variation in English students enrolled in educational institutions and its educational implications from the in the UK and USA and their teachers. perspective of critical linguistics (Fowler, Consequently, the concerns of English Hodge, Kress and Trew (1979), Fowler education in the Outer and Expanding (1988), Fairclough (1992), Hodge and Kress Circle play at best a marginal role in (1993 [1979]), among others.). Sociolinguistic building theories or developing research has shown that structural methodologies.1 This leaves the variations observed in English around the professionals in these Circles in a difficult world have resulted from a number of well- situation whether the perceived need is for defined processes (see, e.g., B. Kachru 1983; appropriate theories, methodologies, or Lowenberg 1984, 1992a; Platt and Webber practices. The aim of this paper is to argue 1980; Tay 1993; Teh 1986). The same is true for shifting the perspective of the profession. of discourse structures and strategies across I hope to accomplish this goal by focusing languages and cultures. There is, however, a on a characterization of (a) the competence great deal of resistance to according equal in English required for successful cross- status to all varieties of English, and the cultural interaction, and (b) programs with questions of ‘standards’ and ‘norms’ are still principles and practices that respond to the being debated widely and passionately (see, world-wide concerns of English education e.g., the debate in B. Kachru 1988, 1991, by providing opportunities to facilitate the Lowenberg 1993, Quirk 1985, 1988, Tickoo acquisition of such competence. Data for the 1991). As a result, the underlying discussion are drawn from structures and assumptions of English language education discourses in several varieties of world at present differ a great deal across the Englishes. I will first discuss variation in world. The ESL/EFL profession is largely English and what motivates it, and driven by principles and practices subsequently characterize the competence developed in response to the concerns of the needed for cross-cultural communication. 199 On JALT96: Crossing Borders the institutionalized varieties of the Outer Finally, I will suggest how programs could Circle, and are fast becoming so in fulfill the perceived needs of world majority accounting for the acrolectal forms of learners of English. performance varieties of the Expanding Circle.2 The observations of Quirk (1985) Variation in English about the ‘monochrome’ standard go There are two ways of looking at against the sociolinguistic realities in the variation: one is to label all variation Outer as well as Expanding Circle contexts. substandard, which is articulated in the Two major factors are responsible for following quote: the observable differences among the varieties of English: language contact and I believe that the fashion of the communicative needs of the speech undermining belief in standard communities that use them. At the risk of English has wrought educational overgeneralizing, it is reasonable to say that damage in the ENL [Inner Circle] phonological and lcxicogrammatical countries, though I am ready to variation in the diaspora varieties largely concede that there may well have results from language contact, whereas been compensating educational variation in discourse strategies and literary gains in the wider tolerance for an styles is additionally motivated by the enjoyment of the extraordinary relevant speech communities attempting to variety of English around us in any express their own meanings in English. This of these countries. But then just is as true of the Outer and Expanding Circle such an airy contempt for standards varieties as it is of the Inner Circle Englishes. started to be exported to EFL and As a consequence, communicative ESL countries, and for this 1 can competence in English can no longer be find no such mitigating equated with “native speaker” competence compensation. The relatively narrow of any one set of users of English for verbal range of purposes for which the non- interaction (Nelson 1992). native needs to use English (even in ESL countries) is arguably well-catered Communicative Competence in for by a single monochrome standard Varieties of English form that looks as good on paper as it For successful communication in world sounds in speech. There are only the Englishes across languages and cultures, we most dubious advantages in need to pay attention to some major factors. exposing the learner to a great The first relevant factor is that not all users variety of usage, no part of which of world Englishes in the three circles need he will have time to master to communicate across regional and national properly, little of which he will be boundaries. Those who arc required to called upon to exercise, all of which participate in intercultural communication, is embedded in a controversial for whatever purposes, need to be sensitized sociolinguistic matrix he cannot be to variation that exists in the language so expected to understand. [Quirk that issues of intelligibility do not assume 1985:6 (emphasis added)] proportions such that successful interaction becomes impossible. Intelligibility includes However, sociolinguistic research on not only the ability to decode the incoming varieties of English has shown that the use message in terms of sounds, words and of world Englishes has acquired a range and grammatical structures, but also in terms of depth in different speech communities comprehending the utterance(s) and which makes it clear that the italicized part interpreting the intentions of the encoder of of the quote above is obsolete? In fact, it is the message. The distinction that Smith no longer justified to look at these varieties (1992) makes in terms of intelligibility, from the perspective of acquisitional comprehensibility and interpretability is deficiency and label them substandard. crucial here. Intelligibility refers to utterance Concepts of ‘interlanguage’ and recognition, comprehensibility to ‘fossilization’ are irrelevant in characterizing recognition of utterance meaning, and Culture interpretability to the recognition of the that in a multisyllabic word, the duration of illocutionary force and implicature of the several unstressed syllables is roughly utterances. Obviously, for the users of equivalent to the one stressed syllable. different varieties to be intelligible in this Consequently, vowel quality has a strong sense requires a great deal of awareness of correlation with stress. To the Inner Circle linguistic as well as cultural context. The speakers of English, the other varieties linguistic factors that are involved are sound as though they have a staccato phonological, lexicogrammatical, and rhythm. In situations of reasonable long discoursal. I would like to discuss variation term contact, however, users of different in each of these areas in world Englishes in varieties seem to adjust well to each other’s some detail to see what is involved in rhythm and manage to communicate acquiring competence in more than one successfully This is obvious when one looks variety. at the educational, financial, media-related, and political and diplomatic institutions A. Phonology around the world. It has been claimed that more than segmental sounds, the rhythmic patterns in B. Lexicogrammax speech are responsible for ensuring a. Lexicon interpretability. This means that unfamiliar Most varieties have their own stress and intonational patterns can lead to characteristic lexicon, developed in response breakdown in communication (see Gumperz to local contexts. Well-known examples of 1982a, 1982b for examples). It is also a well- this phenomenon are innovations that take known fact that stress assignment in words place in a variety as a response to local differs across varieties. For instance, word needs, items that are borrowed from the stress in the American and British varieties substratum languages, and hybrid items differs significantly. In the Outer and that are formed by juxtaposing such a Expanding Circle varieties, stress placement borrowed item and an English item. Some is different from the Inner Circle varieties in examples from both Inner and Outer Circle one crucial respect. Most Outer and varieties are as follows: Expanding Circle varieties have a syllable- timed rather than a stress-timed rhythm American English innovations: (Bamgbose 1992, B. Kachru 1983). As such, affiliate, caboose, collide, down- stress assignment follows the values town, endorse, hammock, hominy, attached to the “mores” (weight of syllables jeopardize, moccasin, opposum, in terms of duration) in these varieties. predicate, itemize, boomer, boom- Stress placement in IE and NE follows from town, bouncer, roller-coaster, fill the the principle of syllable weight. In success, bill, fizzle out, make tracks, peter both syllables are short; therefore, the out, keep tab, etc. default rule of placing the stress on the first syllable applies. In recognize, however, since African English innovations: be on the vowels in re- and - cog- are short and not seat (be in one’s place of work), as weighty as the diphthong in -nize, the been-to (one who has been to primary stress goes with the heavier England), be coupled (find a syllable. Rhythm in these varieties is based partner at dance), me-and-my- on the mores of the syllables; the long darling (love seat), bush meat syllables are twice as long as the short, but (game), tight friend (close friend), the quality of the vowel in long as well as small room (toilet) (Bokamba 1992); short syllables remains the same. In the case long legs (influence) (B. Kachru of a word with several long syllables, all the 1995) syllables are pronounced long irrespective of their stressed or unstressed character. In Indian English innovations: gherao the Inner Circle Englishes, the stressed (sit-in), interdine (sharing a meal syllable has a longer duration as compared with people of different caste or to the unstressed syllable; in fact, the religion), co-brother-in-law (wife’s rhythmic pattern of these Englishes is such sister’s husband), nine-stranded 201 On JALT96: Crossing Borders thread (sacred thread worn by a married caste Hindu), homely b. Dropping a(n): (home-loving) The Sunday Times, 13 June 93: ‘He was Lexical innovations are easily decent, caring man who was disgusted by observable and there have been several the vandalism.’ (McArthur 1994: 2) compilations of variety-specific items (see, e.g., Yule and Burnell 1886, Grote 1992). International Herald Tribune, 15 April 93, Grammatical and discoursal variations, on quoting an American: ‘It is virulent strand of the other hand, alp much mom complex and racism.’ (McArthur 1994: 2) require serious research effort. I will discuss a few areas of grammatical variation first. The Observer: The point is that it is platform for good journalism with differing views.’ b. Grammar (Ilson 1995: 43) Grammatical features that vary noticeably in performance are the following: In addition, the norms of article use in the article system, use of infinitives and American English seem to be undergoing a gerunds, and systems of tenses and question change (Stewart and Fawcett 1994): answering. I will discuss the article system in some detail here. an > a in American English (Stewart The conventions of use of articles with and Fawcett 1994: 20-22) nouns can be stated as follows: President Carter a election process (1976) a. a(n): indefinite non-specific, or President Bush a internal (1990) indefinite specific, or generic (with count Dick Cavett a emergency (1986) nouns in the singular) Phil Donahue a upper class (1986) the: definite specific (with count and Robert Ballard mass nouns), or non-specific generic (with (scientist) a unqualified success (1985) count nouns only) Jane Williams some: indefinite non-specific, or (educator) a interesting game (1982) indefinite specific (with count nouns in the plural, with mass nouns) Third, in many languages of the world, Ø: generic (with count nouns in the only the indefinite noun is marked either plural, with mass nouns) with a determiner or with an affix, the definite is unmarked, and the generic is a The description makes it clear that there function of the definite. This is true of all the is considerable overlap among the forms of major languages of South Asia, of Persian, articles and the meanings they signal. Of and of several other languages of the world. course, the generic reference is not signaled In view of these facts, it is not surprising by the articles exclusively; the tense-aspect that the Outer and Expanding Circle of the utterance is relevant, too (cf. A tiger Englishes do not use articles in the way that roars vs. A tiger is roaring or A tiger roared). the existing English grammars prescribe. There are three factors that complicate The picture is further complicated by the learning of the above system of articles the fact that depending upon speaker in areas where English is not acquired as the intentions, the choice of articles may vary in first language. First, there is no one-to-one what appears to the learners the same correlation between the forms (i.e a, the, context. For example, note the following some) and the meanings they signal. responses by B to A: Second, there are inconsistencies in the use of articles even with the count nouns, as has d. A: I am thirsty. been pointed out by McArthur (1994) and B: There is (some) orange juice in the Ilson (1995). For instance, there is variation fridge. in the use of articles in American and British English which manifests itself in the Except for the implication of quantity in dropping of a(n) or replacing an with a: the use of some as opposed to the zero 202 Culture article, there is no difference in referential distinction in English is simplified. meaning that is signaled by this choice. Perceptually countable items such as A related complication is that nouns, furniture, equipment, luggage are regularly according to grammars, are said to be used with a plural marker to denote more inherently either count or mass and the use than one piece (see the papers in B. Kachru of articles is determined by these properties 1992b). Since neither the determiner nor the of the nouns. In fact, grammatical countability system is clearly described in descriptions differ from each other any language learning/teaching text, there considerably. According to Allan (1980), in is a great deal of variation in the Outer and terms of countability, there are eight Expanding Circle varieties in the usage of different classes of nouns in English in view determiners and the categorization of of (a) their potential for combining with the nouns. In some varieties, such as following types of determiners: the zero Singaporean and Thai, inflectional marking determiner; unit determiners such as a(n), of plural is not always consistent, partly as a one; fuzzy quantifiers such as several, about result of phonological processes such as fifty; the determiner all in the sense of final consonant cluster simplification. ‘completely’; and (b) their potentiality for According to the several generations of being marked as plural, either inflectionally American MATESL candidates that I have or in terms of agreement features. According had the privilege to interact with, these do to Huddleston (1984: 245), there are six not cause problems of intelligibility, even classes of nouns exemplified by equipment though they identify speakers as non-native (fully mass), knowledge (almost mass, but users of English. occur with a, e.g., a good knowledge of The assertion that grammatical Latin), clothes (occur with fuzzy quantifiers differences are responsible for lack of such as many, few, hence are more count- intelligibility in native-non-native like), cattle (occur with fuzzy quantifiers interaction is only partially true. I would and large round numbers), people like to contrast some differences between (collective noun, have plural forms, e.g., Inner Circle Englishes with those between peoples, but are not fully countable in that the Inner and the Outer Circle Englishes. these nouns do not occur in a singular Consider the examples given in e and f : form), and dog (fully count). Inner Circle varieties seem to treat nouns differently in f. Reversal of meaning in restrictive vs. terms of countability: non-restrictive relative clauses (Newbrook 1992): e. Countability of nouns: lettuce, AusE: The students who had finished attendance, entertainment Non-count in AE, left the hall. [all the relevant students1 Count in BE; knowledge, evidence used as The students, who had finished, left countable by reputed linguists in AE the hall. [only a subset1 (Lowenberg 1992b) BE: The students who had finished left It is clear that the English system of the hall. [a subset of students] countability is complex. Moreover, the The students, who had finished, left conventions of marking countability differs the hall. [all the relevant students] across languages. In English, mass nouns (equipment, sugar) are inherently singular, g. Question-Answering system (in IE, AFE but in Sinhalese and Ki-Swahili, they are (Bokamba 1992), PhE (Gumperz 1982a)) treated as plural. In many languages, there is no distinction between a shirt and (a pair A: Isn’t your car running? of) trousers. Thus, there does not seem to be B: Yes (implication: It isn’t running) any conceptual basis for treating several No (implication: It is) categories of nouns in any particular way grammatically speaking. One wonders why g is likely to cause In African, Caribbean, East, South and more problems in intelligibility than f? The South-East Asian varieties of English, the differences in both are equally salient from complex system of marking count/mass the point of view of meaning. Attitudes 203 On JALT96: Crossing ‘Borders toward varieties may be one explanation, me alone!’ [Raja Rao: 88] but that requires separate treatment. I would like to move on to discourse now. The expression holy mother in the above example does not refer to any deity; it C. Discourse refers to the female (biological) parent of the Speech Acts siblings. The sister is trying to persuade her Communicative competence across brother to drop the topic they have been varieties of English depends a great deal on arguing about. familiarity with cultural conventions of The examples make it clear that the language use. English is used in a particular cultural meaning of saugandh khana is very variety to express the sociocultural different from ‘to swear’ in the native meanings that the users of that variety have English-speaking context. The two instances and that are unfamiliar to those who are of swearing are interpretable only in the outside the context. One example may make context of a society or culture that shares the this clear. There is a speech genre saugandh specific meanings with South Asian society khana or qasam khana which is roughly and culture. Notice that it is not the meaning translatable as ‘to swear’. It is, however, of assertion or persuasion that is unfamiliar different from the English item ‘swear’ in to other variety users; it is the linguistic that it only shares the following meanings device of using ‘swear’ to accomplish with it: ‘to assert, promise, agree to, or assertion or persuasion that is unfamiliar. confirm on oath.’ The other, more negative Some further patterns of familiar speech meanings of the English item are not shared genres in IE are given below. by the Hindi item. Another difference is that one can ‘swear’ by anything dear or c. Pattern of greeting and response (If B is valuable to one, e.g., one’s own self, one‘s older in age or relationship) kin, and, of course, the sacred text, A: Greeting Bhagvadgita or God. It has the illocutionary B: Blessing force of strong assertion, persuasion, challenge, promise, or entreaty, depending d. Pattern of compliment-response upon the context. Two examples of how it is A: Compliment used in Indian English with the B: Not deserving the compliment OR illocutionary forces of strong assertion and lowering of head in humility OR silence persuasion, respectively, are given in a and b below: e. Pattern of invitation-response (Also in Chinese, Mao 1992) a. ‘Hé, brother, what is it all about? A: Invitation ‘Nothing. I think it’s about the quarrel B: Initial unwillingness to cause trouble between Ramaji and Subbaji. You know A: Insistence about the Cornerstone?’ B: Acceptance ‘But, on my mother’s soul, I thought they were going to the court?‘[Rao. 1978: 17] f. Patterns of expressing gratitude (Y. Kachru 1995c) The context is that one villager is trying to find out from another villager what the Informal situations: Blessing (if bailiff’s drum meant. The first villager expressing gratitude to a younger person), ‘swears’ in order to convince the second that appreciation of inherent qualities or effort or he had a certain piece of information which help rendered (if exprcsing gratitude to an he really believed to be true. equal), expression of one’s helplessness and In the second example (b), an older grateful acceptance of favor (if expressing sister is scolding a younger brother for gratitude to a superior in status) arguing with her: Formal situations: Thanks. b. ‘...And Ramu,’ she cried desperately, 1 To ensure success in intercultural have enough of quarreling all the time. In communication, it is necessary to be aware the name of our holy mother can’t you leave of how conventions differ across varieties. 204 Culture addressee had gone on a tour of a shrine Writing Conventions and had shared a meal along with several Non-native writing has been a source of other colleagues. great concern to educators in the Inner Circle institutions. The problem is that most Dear Professor X, Outer Circle and Expanding Circle writers would agree with Chinua Achebe- It passed around three months that a substituting their own region for couple of you enjoyed sharing happy talks “African’‘-when he says: and spending a lot of beautiful times to chat and eat out dinner at typical Japanese a. “Most African writers write out of an cuisine restaurant with moss garden. I was African experience and of commitment to an very glad that 1 could have 90-minute long African destiny. For them that destiny does academic lecture from DR. X on [date]. I’m not include a future European identity for afraid that you would exhaust after your which the present is but an apprenticeship.” return to the US with very heavy and busy (Jussawalla and Dasenbrock 1992: 34) schedule in Japan. I’m sure that your daughter finished with joy and in safe. Writing from one’s own experience Please let us show me a beautiful wedding means that conventions of writing differ picture of your daughter on [date] when I across varieties. Some of the conventions of will call at your house some time. writing personal and business letters are I’m very sorry that I could not contact listed in b: with you this summer. 1 visited [city] and stayed at an American family as a tour b. Formulas for opening and closing escort for [No.] Japanese College Students’ letters: compare the following from Indian Home-Stay Program from [dates]. 1 dropped English with the Inner Circle norms: into Hawaii for three days on my way to return to my home. I’m very exciting to B. Kachru (1992a: 313): “If the writer is attend the World Englishes Congress in UH senior in age, the use of blessings seems at Manoa and meet you again next excessive to a person who is not part of the December. 1 wish that I could have a good culture. . . " Consider, for example, the communication with you when I’ll visit the following: “1 always send my love and US. prayers to you all everyday: unseen Please let me know and mail your unheard. May Lord Shiva always protect itinerary of next year if the intensive or term you all and look after you.” linguistics will bc held by the Department of Linguistics at Iuniversity]. 1 hope to see you Bamgbose (1992: 159) claims that in the again in Finland on the 11 th World Congress context of Nigerian English, “one has of Applied Linguistics from 4-9 August in little choice but to mix formulas for opening 1996 if you visit there. and closing letters (i.e., open with Dear Sir Yours sincerely, [instead of Dear surname or first name] and close with Yours sincerely), “since it will be The Japanese letter reflects the considered impolite to address an older dominant cultural value of emphasis on person by his surname, and positively what Jenkins and Hinds (1987) term ‘space: disrespectful, if not impudent, to use his i.e., the relationship between the reader and first name.” the writer. The opening situates the letter in a shared experience, which is followed by One example of a culturally different an expression of concern for the addressee personal letter is in c : and a personal event of considereable interest to the addressee. The transition is c. Japanese letter: written by a Japanese provided by the first sentence of the second professor of English to a colleague at an paragraph, where the writer informs the American university whom the writer had addressee of the writer’s activities as they met a few weeks ago. The writer and the relate to the addressee’s location. The request follows in the opening sentence of 205 On JALT96: Crossing Borders the third paragraph. The second sentence of distinction can sometimes cease to exist the third paragraph, which is the last altogether.” sentence of the letter, attempts to establish Recalling times when Glaswegian the desired harmonious relationship by accents were banned from the radio or when expressing the hope of meeting the his two daughters were ‘reprimanded’ in addressee again. For some one not familiar school for using the Scotts ‘aye‘ instead of with the Japanese conventions of letter the English ‘yes,’ he said it was wrong to writing, it is difficult to judge if the request call the language of his work ‘vernacular’ or is serious, or just a casual indication of ‘dialect.’ interest in an ongoing academic program ‘To me, those words are just another that the two interlocutors had talked about way of inferiorizing the language by briefly. indicating that there’s a standard,” he said. One of the conventions of Outer Circle The dictionary would use the term English that has been discussed much in ‘debased.’ But it’s the language! The living Inner Circle academic institutions is that of language and it comes out of many different ornateness and deferential or ‘high’ style in sources, including Scotland before the prose. That such a style is important for English arrived.” (Reported in The New York cultural identity is supported by the Times , November 29, 1994: B1-2) following fact: An Inner Circle speaker of English, Chuck, who became Acyutananda In academic writing there are also Svami, expresses his gratitude to his ‘guru’ several myths. One is that indirection is bad, or ‘spiritual teacher’ in the following words and all good writing must be direct and (Acyutananda Svami: Sones of the Vaisnava linear, and in the absence of the capability to Acaryas. Los Angeles, 1974: xviii): write in this preferred manner, no scientific or technological progress is possible. In view d. I offer my prostrate obeisance first unto of the fact that almost all styles of writing- all the devotees that have surrendered German, Russian, African, Asian-have unto his divine lotus feet and next unto the been shown to be indirect or circular or devotees who will in the future take shelter digressive, one wonders how any scientific of his lotus feet, and I then offer my humble progress was possible in the centuries obeisances unto his lotusfeet again and preceding the latter half of the 20th century? again. May he bless this first translation After all, the so-called direct, linear style of attempt so that it may be accepted by the writing is, historically speaking, a recent Lord Sri Krshna, and may he engage me in phenomenon in the literate English- the service of the six Gosvamis of speaking world (see Y. Kachru 1995a and Vmdavana, Lord Caitanya, and Radharani. 1995b for a detailed discussion of this point). That there are adverse reactions to such Challenges for English Education styles in the Inner Circle is well- I will address this question from the documented. In fact, there are strong perspective of a teacher educator involved reactions against regional varieties of Inner in the higher education of ESL and EFL Circle Englishes, too, as illustrated by the teachers. As important as courses in events that followed the award of the teaching methodologies, psychology of Booker prize to the Scottish writer James learning and second language acquisition Kelman. are for prospective teachers of English, no The author, reacting to the response to less important are courses that provide a his novel How Late it Was, How Late, which comprehensive view of world Englishes and was called a “disgrace” by one of the judges, their uses and users. This is especially Rabbi Julia Neuberger, and ‘literary important since there is little awareness of vandalism” by Simon Jenkins, had this to the languages of wider communication, say in The Times of London: such as English, in the SLA literature. The perspective on language variation and its “A fine line can exist between eliticism implications for language learning and and racism,” he said. “On matters teaching presented in this paper is almost concerning language and culture, the totally absent in the SLA literature. There is 206 Culture resistance to acknowledging the social there’s no juicy, meaty part in it,” said a reality of varieties and their relevance for Japanese student) or who are disheartened human interaction across languages and by its implicit competitiveness could join cultures. This attitude is reflected in the legions of U.S. graduate students who, for a quote from Quirk (1985) in 5 above. It is also time at least, resist the veiled attacks on reflected in the lack of courses in the area of other authors, the name-dropping, the language variation in general and world abandonment of common-sense vocabulary, Englishes in particular in the MATESL the surrender of voice.” She goes on to programs of the Inner Circle institutions of suggest (Fox 1994: 126): higher education (Vavrus 1991). There seems to be little understanding of the fact that . . .there are ways to see and awareness of variation does not preclude experience the world that most of teachers helping learners acquire whichever us have never dreamed of, ways of variety the educational system of a creating and communicating particular region or nation prefers. On the knowledge that are vastly different contrary, it leads both teachers and students from what we have long been to assess realistically what motivates such convinced is “good writing,” “good preferences, and prepares them to respond thinking,” and “proper professionally to performance requirements understanding.“ As teachers, we in a responsible manner. have an obligation to help world The critical linguistic perspective majority students [international advocates student empowerment by making students] find a voice at the it possible for them to become aware of university by explaining in language variation, attitudes toward respectful, knowledgeable ways variation, and societal consequences of these how we expect them to think, attitudes (Rampton 1992). A wealth of investigate, and express themselves material is now available on varieties of in the U.S. context. And if we listen English and some attempts have been made closely to what they have to tell us, to suggest ways of making ESL we will not only teach more professionals aware of these resources (e.g., completely but deepen the meaning B. Kachru 1995, Tawake 1993). There is no of our own intellectuaI lives as well. excuse for not using these resources to raise the consciousness of all ESL professionals. And as Geertz (1983: 234) says in the Educational practices are cultural practices. context of anthropological research, “the Language education does not and should world is a various place” and it is “various” not mean perpetuation of outdated in many ways:...various between lawyers prejudices and attitudes that result from and anthropologists, various between them. Muslims and Hindus, various between little As a result of the explosion of traditions and great, various between technology and developments in colonial thens and nationalist nows. . . “ international business and commerce, the Nevertheless, “much is to be gained, dream of the world being a “global village” scientifically and otherwise, by confronting is closer to reality. There is no denying the that grand actuality rather than wishing it fact that all over the world, educators feel away in a haze of forceless generalities and the need for English education, and false comforts.” international students flock to American, Australian, British, and Canadian Conclusion universities in ever larger numbers. The English language, as a language of However, we must not forget that they wider communication, has become represent the majority of English-users and pluricentric, and carries the weight of come with their own identities and world- various sociocultural identities. views. As an experienced writing teacher Consequently, the language teaching says (Fox 1994: 74), these “world majority profession faces a situation which provides students,” who find “the [Inner Circle] both challenges and opportunities. The academic form dull or dry (“like a skeleton, challenge is to see and appreciate the 207 On JALT96: Crossing Borders pluricentricity of English and the creativity in fiction. World Englishes 4. opportunity is to educate future generations 233-242. of language professionals in dealing with Dissanayake, Wimal (1990) Self and the complexities of world Englishes. modernism in Sri Lankan poetry in English. World Englishes 9:2. 225-236. Notes Fairclough, Norman (1992) Critical *This is a revised version of the paper linguistics. In William Bright ted.) presented at JALT ‘96 in Hiroshima, Oxford international encyclopedia of November 2, 1996. linguistics. Vol. 1.314316. New York: 1. B. Kachru (1985) divides the English- Oxford University Press. using world into three concentric Fowler, Roger (1988) Critical linguistics. In circles. The Inner Circle consists of K. Malmkjaev (ed.) The linguistic the native English-speaking encyclopedia. New York and London: countries, e.g. Australia, Canada, Routledge. New Zealand, the U.K. and the Fowler, Roger, Bob Hodge, Gunther Kress U.S.A. The Outer Circle comprises and Tony Trew (1979) Language and the former colonies or spheres of control. London: Routledge & Kegan influence of the U.K. and the U.S.A., Paul. e.g. India, Kenya, Nigeria, the Fox, Helen (1994) Listening to the world: Philippines, Singapore, among Cultural issues in academic writing. others. In these countries, nativized Urbana, IL: National Council of varieties of English have achieved Teachers of English. the status of either an official Geertz, Clifford (1983) Local knowledge. New language, or of a language widely York: Basic Books. used in education, administration, Grote, David (1992) British English for legal system, etc. The Expanding American readers: A dictionary of the Circle consists of countries where language, customs and places of British life English is fast becoming a dominant and literature. Westport, CT: Greenwood. second language in the domains of Gumperz, John J. (ed.) (1982a) Language and education, science, and technology, social identity. Cambridge: Cambridge e.g., China, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, University Press. and the countries of Europe. Gumperz, John J. (1982b) Discourse strategies. 2. By range is meant the functional Cambridge: Cambridge University allocation of the language in terms of Press. its users, and by depth is meant the Hodge, Robert and Gunther Kress (1993 penetration of the language in [1979]) Language as ideology. New York: various strata of society across Routledge. cultures and languages (B. Kachru Huddleston, Rodney (1984) Introduction to 1986). the grammar of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University press. References Ilson, Robert. 1995. A(n)-droppi English Allan, Keith (1980) Nouns and Countability. Today 11:l. 42-44. Language 56:3. 541-567. Jenkins, Susan and John Hinds. 1987. Bamgbose, Ayo (1992) Standard Nigerian Business letter writing: English, French English: Issues of identification. In B. and Japanese. TESOL Quarterly 21:2. Kachru (ed.) The other tongue: English 327-349. across cultures. Urbana, IL: University of Jussawalla, Feroza and Reed W. Dasenbrock Illinois Press. [2nd edition] 148-161. (1992) Interviews with writers of the post- Bokamba, Eyamba C. (1992) The colonial world. Jackson and London: Africanization of English. In B. Kachru University Press of Mississippi. (ed.) The other tongue: English across Kachru, Braj B. (1983) The Indianization of cultures. Urbana, IL: University of English: The English language in India. Illinois Press. 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Kachru, Yamuna (1995c) Lexical exponents Quirk, Randolph (1988) The question of of cultural contact: Speech act verbs in standards in the international use of Hindi-English dictionaries. In B. Kachru English. In Peter Lowenberg (ed.) and Henry Kahane (eds.) 1995, Cultures, Language spread and language policy: 209 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Issues, implications and case studies, of sales promotion letters. Unpublished Washington D.C.: Georgetown M.A. thesis. National University of University Press. Singapore, Singapore. Rampton, M.B.H. (1992) Scope for Thumboo, Edwin (1985) Twin perspectives empowerment in sociolinguistics? In and multi-ecosystems: Tradition for a Deborah Cameron, E. Frazer, P. Harvey, commonwealth writer. World Englishes M.B.H. Rampton and K. Richardson. 4:2. 213-21. Researching language: Issues of power and Thumboo, Edwin (1986) Language as method. London, Routledge. 29-64. power: Gabriel Okara’s The Voice as a Rao, Raja. 1978. The Policeman and The Rose. paradigm. World Englishes 5:2-3. 249-64. Delhi: Oxford University Press. Thumboo, Edwin (1992) The literary Smith, Larry E. (1992) Spread of English and dimension of the spread of English. In issues of intelligibility. In B. Kachru B. Kachru (ed.) The other tongue: English (ed.) The other tongue: English across across cultures. Urbana, IL: University of cultures. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. [2nd edition] 255-282. Illinois Press. [2nd edition] 5-90. Tickoo, Makhan La1 (ed.) (1991) Languages Stewart, Penny and Richard C. Fawcett. and standards: Issues, attitudes, case (1994) ‘An‘ to ‘A’ in American speech: studies. Singapore: SEAMEO Regional Language change in progress. English Language Centre. Today 10:1. 1824. Vavrus, Frances K. (1991) When paradigms Tawake, Sandra (1993) Reading The Bone clash: The role of internationalized People--cross-culturally. World Englishes varieties in language teacher education. 12:3. 325-333. World Englishes 10:2. 181-195. Tay, Mary Wan Joo (1993) The English Yule, Henry and A.C. Burnell(l886) Hobson- language in Singapore: Issues and Jobson: A glossary of colloquial Anglo- development. Singapore: National Indian words and phrases. London: University of Singapore, UniPress, Routledge and Kegan Paul [New Center for the Arts. Edition 1985] Teh, G.S. (1986) An applied discourse analysis 210 Section Six Linguapax 211 On JALT96: Crossing Borders UNESCO Linguapax at JALT96 Kip Cates Tottori University Given the JALT96 conference site inside Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, the Linguapax Seminars and Publications international city of peace, it was fitting that International Linguapax meetings have a key theme of the four-day event was peace taken place in Europe and around the and international understanding. A special world. These include seminars in Kiev, feature of the conference, therefore, was the USSR (Linguapax I, 1987), in Sitges, Spain participation of a delegation of language (Linguapax II, 1988), in Saarbrucken, teaching and peace education experts from Germany (Linguapax III, 1990), in Barce- the International Linguapax Committee of lona, Spain (Linguapax IV, 1994), and in UNESCO. Melbourne, Australia (Linguapax V, 1995). Working closely with UNESCO on these UNESCO and the Linguapax Program seminars is the World Federation of Modern UNESCO stands for the United Nations Language Associations (FIPLV), a global Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organi- umbrella organization comprising interna- zation. It was formed in 1946 as a special- tional teaching associations for languages ized UN agency to support international such as French, German, Spanish, Russian cooperation in education, science and and, of course, English (represented by the culture and to promote the UN ideals of organizations TESOL and IATEFL). human rights, peace and tolerance. Con- Linguapax principles and practice have vinced that ignorance of other peoples been documented in a number of publica- breeds suspicion and that the best way to tions, beginning with the 1987 Linguapax prevent war is through education, UNESCO Kiev Declaration entitled Content and has actively worked to promote interna- Methods that Could Contribute in the Teaching tional understanding in schools based on its of Foreign Languages and Literature to lnterna- constitution which reads since wars begin in tional Understanding and Peace. Linguapax the minds of men, it is in the minds of men books published since then include Interna- that the defences of peace must be con- tional Understanding through Foreign Language structed. Teaching (Classen-Bauer, 1989), Peace through Linguapax is an international UNESCO Language Teaching (Raasch, 1991), Language program specifically established to explore Teaching in a World Without Peace (Raasch, how foreign language teaching can promote 1993), Linguapax IV (Marti, 1995), Linguapax peace and international understanding. The V (Cunningham & Candelicr, 1996), We Live name LINGUAPAX combines the Latin in Just One World (Grasa & Reig, 1996) and words “lingua” (= language) and “pax” (= Languages: Ways towards Peace (Raasch, peace) to mean “peace through language 1997). learning and teaching”. Linguapax brings together international experts in the fields of UNESCO Linguapax Speakers language teaching, applied linguistics, peace The UNESCO Linguapax presence at education and education for international JALT96 comprised four Special Conference understanding to share ideas, work out Speakers who attended the conference from teaching guidelines, design educational Australia, Spain (Catalonia) and Germany: projects and produce publications. 212 Linguapax theme Linguapax, Language Teach- ing and Peace Education l Dr. Felix Marti (Director, UNESCO Centre of Catalonia, Barcelona) who l Individual papers by Linguapax is president of the International speakers on peace-related themes Linguapax Committee, recipient of l A Linguapax display table exhibiting the 1995 UNESCO Medal for Human Linguapax publications Rights and leader of the UNESCO l Participation by Linguapax speakers Linguapax delegation to JALT96. in the JALT96 Final Panel on Crossing Borders: Making Connections l Prof. Albert Raasch (Professor of Applied Linguistics and Foreign JALT96 Linguapax Workshops Language Education, University of Each day of JALT96 featured a Saarland, Germany) who is an expert Linguapax workshop led by the UNESCO on language and peace, and editor of Linguapax speakers. These three daily the UNESCO Linguapax books Peace workshops: (1) introduced participants to through Language Teaching (1991) and the Linguapax program, its history and Language Teaching in a World Without aims; (2) discussed Linguapax projects, Peace (1993). plans and materials designed to contribute to international understanding through the l Mr. Denis Cunningham (Victorian teaching of foreign languages and literature; School of Languages, Australia) who (3) outlined how language teachers can is secretary general of the World promote peace and tolerance in their Federation of Modern Language classrooms. Associations (FIPLV), secretary of the At the final workshop session, Australian Federation of Modem participants brainstormed ideas for further Language Teachers Associations promoting Linguapax and its work within (AFMLTA), and organizer of the 1995 the language teaching profession. Ideas Linguapax V Conference in Australia. mentioned included: l l Prof. Reinhold Freudenstein (outgo- holding teacher training seminars ing Director of the Foreign Language and workshops on peace education Research Information Centre, and Linguapax Philipps University, Germany) who l promoting international teacher and has presented extensively on lan- student exchanges through pen pal guage teaching and peace education programs, overseas visits and worldwide, and has been newsletter homestay programs editor for the World Federation of l writing language textbooks and Modern Language Associations teaching materials on peace educa- (FIPLV). tion themes l encouraging contact between lan- UNESCO Linguapax Events at JALT96 guage teachers and peace education Linguapax participation at JALT96 took groups a number of different forms. These included: preparing a data base of language teachers involved in peace education projects l A Hiroshima Open Forum on the theme of Peace through Education promoting cooperation between language teaching special interest l A keynote address by Linguapax President Felix Marti on Language groups (SIGs) Education for World Peace establishing a Linguapax home page and Internet list or bulletin board l Daily Linguapax workshops outlining Linguapax principles and practice in promoting education for interna- Linguapax Asia Network tional understanding One result which came out of the l A Linguapax colloquium on the JALT96 Linguapax sessions was the estab- . lishment of a Linguapax Asia Network to 213 On JALT96: Crossing Borders promote international understanding tional understanding. through language teaching in the Asia ? References Pacific region. This informal network aims Classen-Bauer, I. (1989). International to link up Asian language teachers inter- Understanding through Foreign Language ested in the goals of Linguapax so that they Teaching. Bonn: German Commission can share information and begin working on for UNESCO. the suggestions made above. Anyone Cunningham, D. and Candclier, M. (Eds.) interested in becoming part of this network (1996). Linguapax V. FIPLV: Melbourne. should contact either of the following: Grasa, R. and Reig, D. (Eds.) (1996). Linguapax Teaching Unit I: We Live in Just l Kip Cates, JALT Global Issues N-SIG, One World. Barcelona : UNESCO Centre Tottori University, Koyama, Tottori of Catalonia. City, JAPAN 680 Marti, F. (Ed.) (1995). Linguapax IV. Barce- l International Linguapax Committee, lona : UNESCO Centre of Catalonia. UNESCO Centre of Catalonia, 285 Raasch, A. (Ed.) (1997). Languages: Ways Mallorca, Barcelona 08037, Spain / Towards Peace. Germany: Saarland Catalonia University. Raasch, A. (Ed.) (1993). Language Teaching in UNESCO and the International a World Without Peace. Germany: Linguapax Committee were excited about Saarland University. their participation in the conference and the Raasch, A. (Ed.) (1991). Peace through warm response they received. They wish to Language Teaching. Germany: UNESCO thank JALT for including them in the / Saarland University. program and for giving them the opportu- UNESCO. (1987) LINGUAPAX Kiev Declara- nity to talk to language teachers in Japan. tion: Content and Methods that could They are pleased to have established a Contribute in the Teaching of Foreign Linguapax Asia Network and look forward Languages and Literature to International to discussing further with interested Understanding and Peace. Paris: teachers how language teaching in Asia can UNESCO. better promote peace, tolerance and interna- Language Education for World Peace Felix Marti President, International Linguapax Committee Director, UNESCO Centre of Catalonia, Barcelona between human groups. Now we are in a Introduction position to eliminate violence and war. Of It is a great honour for me to speak of course, we are still witness to terrible wars peace in Hiroshima at the 22nd International in different parts of the world - violence in Conference of the Japan Association for Bosnia and Rwanda, the long war in the Language Teaching. In this city, reflections Sudan, successive wars in Afghanistan, the on peace are more pertinent than in other violence of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, parts of our planet and invitations for new the revolution in Chiapas or the repression peace projects find their warmest welcome. in Tibet. However, the idea of a world at Dear friends: this is an important peace is no longer utopian. I am pleased that moment in human history. For as far back as our conference theme is Crossing Borders for our historical memory goes, we have lived I think the great border we are crossing is immersed in the culture of war, using the one separating the culture of war from violence as a means of resolving conflicts the culture of peace. 214 Linguapax An Emerging Culture of Peace can lead their countries to war at the drop of Increasing Interdependence a hat. We must therefore look with great We have only recently begun to see hope on the progress towards democracy ourselves as citizens of Planet Earth, rather being made by the countries of Eastern than solely as members of countries whose Europe, South Africa and Latin America. national interests we had to defend. In the last 50 years, the relations of interdepend- Growing Environmental Awareness ence between countries have multiplied and Our new environmental sensibilities are still growing spectacularly. Modem reflect a profound change in the way we communication technologies have contrib- look on the relationship between human uted decisively to this. Today, any disorder beings and nature. For centuries, what we at any point has a negative effect on all call Western culture has imposed a relation- nations. For this reason, we shall have to ship characterized by aggressiveness. Man make the United Nations into a truly owned nature, considering it an inexhaust- effective political authority capable of ible source of resources, and showed no resolving global problems. Recent UN concern for the consequences of industrial conferences have addressed many of these development that generated pollution. We issues: the UN Conference on Environment and now know that we cannot consider our- Development (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), the World selves as separate from nature and that any Conference on Human Rights (Vienna, 1993), damage to the delicate balance of the on Population and Development (Cairo, 1994), biosphere will affect us the same as other on Women (Beijing, 1995) and on Housing species. We shall have to organize new (Istanbul, 1996). However, we have yet to set industrial cultures on the basis of up the necessary international structures for sustainability. The patterns of production these. We can all contribute to this: politi- and consumption we consider normal in the cians, businessmen, teachers, non-govern- United States, Europe and Japan will have mental organizations, the mass media, to be dramatically modified. Western culture scientists and technicians. I think we prefer will have to learn to be humble and value reason and solidarity to chaos and violence. other traditions which have never lost a loving relationship with nature. Ecological The Growing Wish to Participate awareness seems to me more favourable to One positive development of our times peace than technological aggressiveness. is the growing prestige of democratic political structures in the face of authoritar- An Increasing Respect for Diversity ian systems. On every continent, dictatorial Scientific, technological culture was regimes are steadily giving way and until recently held up as the only valid allowing citizens to take part in the running culture. We now realise that the cultural of public life. Democracy needs to be experience we attribute to white, Ango- perfected in three areas: economic power, Saxon, English-speaking Protestant males is media power and technological power. only one of many legitimate cultural Remember that financial speculation is traditions and that there are hundreds of larger than the productive economy, human communities with other cultural Remember that the communications media, values that are equally valuable. At which have so much influence over the UNESCO, we say that all cultures and transmission of ideas, symbols and values, languages are equally worthy, an idea operate exclusively according to market developed in the 1995 UNESCO Declaration criteria. Remember that a large part of on Tolerance which begins Tolerance consists scientific and technological activity is in respecting, accepting and appreciating directed towards the war industry. Despite the rich diversity of cultures in our world. this, the prestige of democracy is Opposing this are the fundamentalist trends growing. There is a substantial relationship which would impose a single interpretation between democracy and the culture of of truth, a single code of conduct, a single peace. Under democratic regimes, people authority, a single aesthetic. However, the only decide on war in exceptional circum- recognition and appreciation of diversity are stances. Authoritarian regimes, however, gaining ground all over the world. Before, 215 On JALT96: Crossing Borders diversity was a cause of fear. Now, we The countries of the UN Security Council celebrate it. still maintain militaristic concepts of security and are themselves the chief arms Expanding Intercultural Dialogue exporters. But ideas on security are chang- In an interdependent world, we must ing. We prefer today to assess security in be able to establish consensus on the basis of terms of food, health, housing, education international coexistence. For this reason, and the environment. We have also made international governmental and non- good progress in techniques for preventing governmental organizations are establishing and solving conflicts. Never like today have platforms for dialogue between the worlds people turned to the United Nations for various cultures to discover shared con- mediation, dialogue and peace agreements. cerns, common ethical orientations and the For the first time in human history, violence possibility of sharing responsibilities. One is becoming discredited as a method of example is the 1993 Declaration toward a solving conflicts. Global Ethic approved by the Parliament of the Worlds Religions in Chicago. We must Languages and Peace also agree on basic ethical values. Young The Treasure of Languages people all over the world are asking what Each language expresses one of many our values are. On every continent, we are possible human wisdoms. Languages are at threatened by nihilism, scepticism and once interpretations of reality, mythical and pragmatism while, on a global level, we see symbolic constructs, settings for rational life, systems of dominance, the rule of the expressions of community idcntitics, strongest and group selfishness. To con- territories for communication and dialogue. struct peace, values of another kind must Languages are the most prodigious produc- triumph. I think there are three which, tions of human creativity. They must under different names, can be found in all therefore be considered a common treasure cultures: freedom, justice and solidarity. I of humanity. Each language is both the believe these will be the values of the heritage of the community that expresses international ethic of the future. itself in that language, and the heritage of the whole of humanity. The differences New Political and Economic Structures between Ianguagesmust not be interpreted The political system of states, with their in a way that allows the establishment of armies, borders, currencies and sovereign- hierarchies between them. All languages are ties, is becoming outdated. There are equally worthy regardless of the number of continents in which state borders were laid people who speak the language, the political down by colonial powers and do not take and economic power of the linguistic into account ethnic or cultural realities. community that expresses itself in it, the There are states comprising more than one legal status of the language or its presence in nation and nations divided between several education or the media. Love for all lan- states. This whole system will have to be guages is a basic condition for world peace. reformed. In the economic sphere, we now In the course of human history, violence understand the mechanisms which on one has often been exerted in the linguistic field. hand lead to an excessive concentration of I myself have experienced it in my own wealth and on the other generate lifetime. I belong to the Catalan linguistic marginalization, unemployment and community. Catalan is a language derived hardship. We have a political and moral from Latin and spoken by 10 million people. duty to change this system so that the I was born during the dictatorship of economy is placed at the service of human General Franco, who governed Spain for development, takes into account job short- almost 40 years. I was not able to learn my ages resulting from new technologies and language at school and never saw a newspa- shares universal wealth more fairly. per written in my language until I was 38. My language was banned and persecuted. New Concepts of Security Many languages, in many parts of the Until the fall of the Berlin Wall, national world, have experienced or still experience security was thought of in military terms. similar situations. To construct peace we 216 Linguapax must love all languages and create the community If we analyse the conflicts on conditions for them to live in freedom. every continent, we shall discover factors of a cultural and linguistic type in all of them. Linguistic Diversity The two chief trends in the world today are We have not yet made a rigorous globalization and the affirmation of commu- inventory of human linguistic diversity. In nity identities. These two trends can be his book, A Guide to the Worlds Languages, perfectly harmonized. I believe the Univer- Merrith Ruhlen says there are about 5,000 sal Declaration of Linguistic Rights is an living languages in the world (Ruhlen, important step in the protection of cultural 1987). According to Michel Malherbe (1983), and linguistic identities and will contribute the most widely spoken languages are the to world peace. I do not think it will go Chinese of Beijing (Mandarin), English, down well with those who want to maintain Hindi-Urdu, Spanish, Russian, Indonesian, systems of cultural or linguistic imperialism, Arabic, Portuguese, Bengali, French, but to create world peace the old cultural Japanese and German. Forty-seven countries imperialism must be replaced by new forms have English as their official language, 21 of cultural democracy I invite all language have Arabic and 20 have Spanish. teachers to help spread the letter and spirit The real problem lies in the weakness of of the Universal Declaration of Linguistic languages spoken by linguistic communities Rights. with small populations and with little or no political or legal recognition. Some linguists Linguistic Policies have warned of the probable disappearance There are peaceful linguistic policies of 1,000 languages in the next 20 years. This and linguistic policies that generate conflict. disaster is as serious as the loss of In the last few years, we have seen positive biodiversity-even more serious because changes in every continent: the Republic of languages are the most valuable expression South Africa and Ethiopia in Africa; Bolivia of the human spirit. Protection of diversity and other Andean countries in Latin is a basic peace principle and the protection America; Australia, Cambodia, Russia, of weak or threatened languages is one Spain and many other countries that have objective of the philosophy of peace. recognized their linguistic plurality and UNESCO has therefore decided to draw up renewed laws and practices in a democratic a regular world report on the state of and peaceful spirit. Linguistic policy must languages so as to contribute to the aware- promote the self-esteem of the languages of ness by all countries of the need to protect each community, access to the languages of linguistic diversity. UNESCO hopes that neighbouring linguistic communities and you, as language teachers, will be the most access to a language of universal scope. enthusiastic defenders of human linguistic These objectives can be achieved with a diversity. suitable judicial system, through political measures and with a linguistic education Linguistic Rights adopted to each situation. If we are determined to protect the In some African countries, the excessive worlds languages, we must create legal prestige given to the language of the mechanisms to make this protection effec- colonizers needs to be compensated through tive. For this mason, a Universal Declaration measures aimed at promoting self-esteem. of Linguistic Rights was drawn up on June 6, In other countries, monolingual English- 1996 for UNESCO so as to become a United Spanish- or French-speakers must be Nations International Convention. The encouraged to speak other languages. Them World Conference on Linguistic Rights is is a general need to promote a working for the adoption of the Convention multilingualism not oriented exclusively in by UN member states. favour of the dominant international One key idea of the Declaration is that languages. It would not be a good thing if of considering both individual linguistic learning foreign languages in practice rights and the linguistic rights of communi- represented a step towards universal ties, since a language is not effectively monolingualism. protected unless we consider the rights of its 217 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Multilingual Education Linguapax Multilingual education can be a To end, I would like to remind you that valuable instrument for the culture of peace. UNESCO has created a specific programme Crossing the border of the first language can to help promote language teaching as a mean empathizing with another culture, means to education for peace - the with other communities, with another view Linguapax Project. Linguapax acts in three of the world and with other values. Lan- fields according to the three great challenges guage teachers are in a position to exercise I have mentioned. Linguapax advises their trade with a definite aim: to establish UNESCO member states in matters of bridges of friendship between different linguistic policy or planning. Linguapax cultures, to present human diversity as promotes the protection of the worlds something positive, to arouse a taste for the linguistic diversity, for which it is preparing variety of human traditions, to discover the the first report on the state of the worlds cultural conditioning of our opinions, languages, and supports the Universal options and values, to call for openness of Declaration of Linguistic Rights. Linguapax spirit, to promote tolerance, to learn to promotes the creation and trial of teaching dialogue, to respect differences and to get materials to help teachers of language along together. become educators for peace. These methods I would like to stress that what can have been tested in Europe and work make language teaching into education for groups set up in Australia and Latin peace is a definite intentionality - that is, America. specific teaching aims and methods to I hope this conference in Hiroshima will promote intercultural understanding. The lead to the creation of a Linguapax Network goal is to encourage a change of mentality (I in Asia and that in 1997 we shall be able to understand people who arent like me) and a complete the network with seminars in change of attitude (I can be a friend and Africa. I would like to thank all the teachers partner of people from other human who have listened to me and the Japan communities). Multilingual education must Association for Language Teaching, which fight the prejudices, stereotypes and sectari- has given special consideration to anism that underpin the culture of war. If Linguapax at its 22nd international confer- we can speak other peoples languages, we ence. I am confident that Hiroshima will shall have a better chance of understanding inspire us with new projects and commit- their points of view, values and priorities ments for world peace. and will have access to their memory, hopes and dreams. For all these masons, we at References UNESCO want to honor all language Malherbe, M. (1983). Les langues de teachers who see themselves as educators lhumanite,. (The Languages of Human- for peace. ity). Paris: Seghers. Ruhlen. M. (1987). A Guide to the Worlds Languages. London: Edward Arnold. Linguapax Linguapax, Language Learning and Technology Denis Cunningham Secretary, Australian Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations Inc. (AFMLTA) Secretary General, World Federation of Modern Language Associations (FIPLV) Introduction basis. This suggests that “content-based UNESCOs Linguapax project fosters the immersion programs be promoted as the sharing of experience and expertise in best models for achieving high levels of domains which impinge upon peace: communicative competence in LOTE (ie politics, law, economics, human rights, Languages other than English) (Ministerial language policy, education, cultural under- Advisory Council, 1994, pg. 7) standing and tolerance. The role of technol- The learning of languages is an interna- ogy is a new factor in promoting these aims. tional priority and necessity. Yet, politics It is in the marriage of education and and bureaucracy often place unrealistic emerging technologies that I see the poten- demands on teacher supply. We just do not tial for furthering real and potential gains have a sufficient number of qualified for peace. language teachers to staff the number of A search of the literature reveals a classes desired. We thus cannot address significant amount of academic research and through conventional means the political, empirical studies on peace and an explosion community and educational demands for of articles, journals and monographs languages in Australian schools. This is devoted to technological advances in particularly so for certain languages. education. Between the poles of peace and Australia’s Language: the Australian Language technology, however, there has been little and Literacy Policy (1991) behoves individual attempt to build a bridge to traverse the gap states and territories to identify eight from between the two. The objective of this paper among the following priority languages: is to cement that bridge, to underscore that Aboriginal languages, Arabic, Chinese, essential continuum. The emphasis will be French, German, Indonesian, Italian, on emerging technologies, in an attempt to Japanese, Korean, Modern Greek, Russian, demonstrate how these can assist with the Spanish, Thai and Vietnamese. promotion of peace through language A subsequent report, Asian Languages learning, cross-cultural understanding and and Australia’s Economic Future, states that tolerance. the languages Australia should focus on for the future are: Japanese, Chinese (Manda- Underlying Philosophy rin), Indonesian and Korean. This accentu- It should be stressed at the outset - ates the pressure as these have not been, before everyone develops the impression until very recently, the major languages that I am a techno-head -that the desired taught in Australian schools. To address model for second language learning in this need, other alternatives must be sought. Australian schools is for students to have Various solutions present themselves: regular face-to-face contact with an empa- thetic, linguistically competent and 1. We could place a moratorium on the pedagogically sound practitioner for the introduction of language programs. largest amount of time possible on a weekly This, however, would not meet with . 219 On JALT96: Crossing Borders the approval of governments and communication skills desired would not be projected targets. The report Asian achieved. The likely result: antipathy Languages and Australia's Economic towards the people and culture of the Future, for example, recommends language being "learned”-the reverse of 25% of Year 12 students doing a what we are trying to achieve! Language Other Than English (LOTE) by the Year 2006 (p ix). Social Justice Implied in this philosophy is the need 2. We could compromise on the linguis- to address issues of social justice - specifi- tic competence of the instructors and cally, equity and access. Language teacher dispense with the quality control shortage is far more acute in rural areas of procedures undertaken through Australia and it is highly unlikely we could accreditation interviews. meet this need only through conventional means. Remote students often have no 3. We could recycle qualified teachers of access to either educational programs of/in other languages (eg French, German, the language or to native speakers of Italian, etc.) in crash courses of languages other than English within their Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese and local community. Technological advances Korean. Yet, how competent would thus provide the sole vehicle through which any of us be in a language after only otherwise deprived learners can access twenty hours! language programs. 4. We could undertake extensive The Learners language upgrading and retraining We have entered the Information Age programs to assist existing teachers to where, for many of us, technology is a teach these languages until the reality. Our children are being brought up supply of newly qualified teachers in an age where they arc surrounded by a meets the demand. This is now being range of technologies with which they (may) undertaken. feel far more comfortable than we do. My five year-old daughter, for example, at the 5. We could use technology as a me- age of two could operate the VCR quite dium of delivery for isolated teachers competently! to provide them with language Implicit in this reality is the desirability upgrading and retraining programs of encouraging competence and comfort in through audioconferencing, video, the use of emerging technologies. It is CD-ROM and the Internet as well as highly likely that the future will manifest an residential workshops, and increasing degree of computer and technol- homestays in the country of the ogy literacy, some acquired before embark- language being studied. This is being ing upon formal education. This is likely to undertaken quite successfully. have an impact on the preferred learning styles of young learners. Courses which 6. We could capitalise upon emerging incorporate computer and technology technologies as a medium of delivery components are likely to appear more of quality languages programs to relevant to young learners and could students otherwise denied the motivate students to learn and continue opportunity to learn. Such initiatives these programs. This has been the case for are already underway. boys especially since, in the past, they have represented the major group in attrition It is not a question of technology from language programs. driving the curriculum or replacing teach- ers, to answer a common fear. We must Open Learning and Technology retain the high quality of the language We have touched upon technology as a programs being offered. To do otherwise medium for delivering language programs, would deny the possibility of cross-cultural as a tool in modern society and as a focus of understanding, tolerance and peace as the education. These three emphases impinge 220 Linguapax upon the open nature of education required for the twenty-first century. This is known (b) Audiographics as open learning - an approach that technol- Audiographics emerged in the late ogy works well to promote. Neil Elliott 1980s to address the needs of disadvantaged (1994: l-2) argues that, in schools, a course learners in rural Victoria. The focus was on may be open in one or more of the following learners in small numbers who found ways: themselves isolated for reasons of geogra- l in providing a choice of content phy, curriculum choice or teacher unavail- from a wide range of options ability. They were usually in local telephone l in choice of learning method and districts but often in different schools, towns media or cities. By grouping them together l in choice of the place at which through modem technology, they could be learning can occur formed into “classes” and provided access l in providing frequent, varied and to a competent teacher at another location. informative feedback on learning In addition to the teacher and students, progress the basic elements of the classroom are texts, l in the numbers and backgrounds of visual, and oral/aural factors. In people who can help the learner to audiographics, the fax supplements texts, learn audioconferencing accommodates the oral/ l in providing a choice of when aural component, and computer networking learning may take place replicates the roles of the blackboard and overhead transparency. A specific program, Emerging Technologies: Some Exam- Electronic Classroom, was developed for this ples purpose, with the content often transfer& Let us now consider some configura- to an overhead screen for larger groups of tions of open learning where different students. This became the best means for technologies have been introduced to many students to acquaint themselves with provide students with access to enhanced the language and culture of another country. language programs. This may be the only means for students to learn another lan- (c) Interactive Satellite Television guage, encounter another culture and be An ambitious initiative undertaken by motivated to embark upon the journey of the Directorate of School Education of language learning. To deny them this Victoria, interactive satellite television opportunity could well be to deny them the (ISTV) involved the installation in 1994 of only pathway through which they could satellite receiver dishes in all Victorian develop cross-cultural understanding and schools so that teachers and students could tolerance, and a consideration of peace remain in their own institutions and receive through the learning of a language other a range of corporate messages, professional than English. development and/or curriculum content. Similar to satellite broadcasting of (a) Distance Education regular TV programs, ISTV programs are In the past, the sole access to languages filmed in a studio and beamed out in real for some remote students has been through time to a numerous, dispersed audience distance education courses. These have situated at receiving sites within a (closed) been largely print-based but are now network or covered by a ‘footprint’. Recipi- complemented by regular face-to-face ents can fax or phone in their contributions seminars, audioconferencing, audio and to be shared or heard by those at all sites. video cassettes. As most schools acquire CD- This has become the medium through which ROM capacity and access to the Internet, to resolve issues of access and equity, course components are being expanded for teacher upgrading and retraining, and these media. LOTE delivery to a multitude of students otherwise unable to learn another language. 221 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Directorate of School Education - Victoria (Assistance of OTEN gratefully acknowledged) Figure 1 : Interactive Satellite Television Network ISTV gave rise in 1994 to what became six langues--Chinese French, German, known as PALS-Primary Access to Lan- Indonesian, Italian and Japanese--across guages via Satellite-in which bi-weekly two levels: middle and upper primary. In lessons were delivered to primary schools 1996, SALS (Secondary Access to Languages via Satellite) programs were also offered to electing to offer Indonesian, Italian and Japanese. The undertaking was substantial, secondary students. embracing the following numbers in While the primary objective is to Victoria alone: provide language skills to (remote) Austral- ian students and access to non-AngloCeltic cultures, the PALS program also aims to Language schools classes students Italian 76 159 ca 6000 encourage non-language teachers to em- brace the language and culture of another Indonesian 163 350 ca 8000 country, improve their language skills, Japanese 194 371 ca 8000 develop positive attitudes towards the The professional development and foreign culture and act as positive agents of change in fostering cross-cultural under- language training of the 853 participating classroom teachers for the 21,763 students standing in their students. The following involved was conducted by the Victorian quotes (Davis 1995: 2-3) demonstrate the effects of the program: School of Languages in a package which by (...) “offering Languages Other included weekend workshops, resource materials and weekly ISTV broadcasts. The Than English (LOTE) through PALS PALS program expanded in 1995 to include to students there has been a growing appreciation of LOTE and their 222 Linguapax associated cultures” language and thus journey further along the ‘Teachers have found that the LOTE pathway towards acquiring competence in is an avenue for developing a wider another language, arriving at an under- cultural awareness in their stu- standing of its culture and developing dents...“ positive attitudes towards others. Speaking “What has actually eventuated is the language of another does not guarantee quite an enthusiasm for the learning peace but, by abandoning monolingualism, of a foreign language by teachers” individuals can expand the number of “Professional development days for global co-inhabitants with whom they can LOTE once attracted a few of the communicate and commence to understand dedicated LOTE teachers; now, and accept. Technology can, as we have anything up to sixty teachers from shown, offer the only medium through primary and secondary background which languages can be accessed by some turn up to contribute to and partake students. Access to the languages and of the days’ activities“ cultures of others, even if delivered techno- logically, is a preferable alternative to (d) Electronic Mail and the Internet denying learners the opportunity to acquire Electronic mail offers further potential another language and achieve the goals of for communication, albeit written, across LINGUAPAX. geographical barriers. As an increasing number of schools take on electronic mail, References communication becomes possible in many Cunningham, D. (1996) Further potential of languages leading, perhaps in a small way, technology in an open learning environ- to enhanced understanding of others, ment. In Equity in Languages Other than tolerance and peace. We often read and hear English, Proceedings of the AFMLTA of the potential offered by the Internet. It Inc. 10th National Languages Confer- appears logical to predict that with its ence, Perth, Australia, (1994), pp. 148- tripartite offering of communication, 171. information and entertainment, and its Davis, R. (1995) What Has PALS Ever Done for invasion into education, business and Us! (pp. 2-3). Unpublished paper. homes, the Information Superhighway will Elliott, N. (1994) The Technology of Open play a major role in bringing individuals Learning. In Margitta, I. (Ed.), Towards closer together across the globe. Open Learning : the New Technologies (pp. l-7). Melbourne : Directorate of School (e) Diverse Media Education, Victoria,. There are at least thirty other discrete or Elliott, N. (1994) Asian Languages and interdependent media (Cunningham, 1996) Australia’s Economic Future : A Report which have been explored or developed to Prepared for the Council of Australian varying degrees and which embrace a Governments on a Proposed National Asian consideration of languages. These may Languages/Studies Strategy for Australian include the use of off-shore satellite broad- Schools (p. ix). Brisbane : Queensland cast materials in a range of languages, Government Printer. interactive books, CALL packages, CD- Elliott, N. (1991) Australia’s Language : The ROM and other multimedia. Australian Language and Literacy Policy. Canberra : Australian Government Conclusion Publishing Service. While the connection between technol- Elliott, N. (1994) Ministerial Advisory Council ogy and peace may seem nebulous for some, on Languages Other Than English Report we believe that the use of technological to the Minister for Education (p. 7). developments and new media can motivate Melbourne : Directorate of School teachers and students to learn a second Education. 223 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Modern Language Teaching after the Year 2000 Reinhold Freudenstein Philipps University, Marburg, Germany Imagine having met 100 years ago in scene today, not much has changed. In many November 1896. The conference would European states, English, French or German probably have been organized by an and Latin are still the leading school association of modern language teachers - languages. A few years ago, Victors book had it existed - primarily interested in was republished after 100 years, and most of philological problems and the teaching of his comments are still valid (Schroder, 1984). grammar, translation and literature. Of course, there have been changes. Text- A few years earlier, a German professor books look very different now and more of English, Wilhelm Vietor, had written a young people - specifically girls - have the book entitled Foreign language teaching chance to learn foreign languages than in must change (Vietor, 1882). He could not the past. Foreign language learning at understand why modern languages were school is no longer the privilcgc of an elite. taught in the same way as the ancient And the objectives in the foreign language languages, Latin and Greek, on the basis of curriculum have changed considerably, grammar and translation. He wanted to see particularly since American scholars like the grammar-translation method replaced Fries and Lado re-introduced the audio- by direct contact with the foreign language lingual method on a scientific basis (Fries, in meaningful situations. He had started a 1952; Lado, 1964). movement which resulted in the direct Since then, communicative competence methods supported by linguists like has replaced goals like learning about Jespersen and Palmer. masterpieces of great writers. But the The statements by the leaders of this teaching and learning of foreign languages movement make stimulating reading: Vietor at school has not really changed as far as (1902: 30): On the basis of word lists and results are concerned. In spite of modern rules you cannot learn how to speak and objectives like teaching communicative understand. Otto Jespersen (1904: 96): The skills, most of our students have no practical disadvantage of dictation, as of all written command of the language they have class work, is that it consumes more time learned. A 1989 survey in Germany revealed than oral exercises. Or take Palmer (1917: that only 58% of the population could use 116): A certain number of regular sentences English in everyday situations, 22% French, should be thoroughly assimilated in the 7% Italian, 5% Spanish and only 1.6% early stages in order to serve as model Russian - fewer than those learning Latin. In sentences to be developed by the student in a more recent German study, only 35% of the form of substitution tables. At that time, the population confessed that they knew a the main languages taught in European foreign language well enough to negotiate higher education were - besides Latin and or write a letter. Obviously something is Greek - English, French and German, and wrong with the teaching of foreign lan- the main media of instruction were the guages at school level. One reason is that 40 blackboard, chalk and textbook - the same - 60% of language instruction time is items used by Comenius in the 17th century devoted solely to teaching formal grammar If you look at the foreign language (Zimmermann, 1984: 31). 224 Linguapax So far, in the history of European two languages taught simultaneously where foreign language teaching, we have done parents can choose between English, French nothing but modify what has traditionally and Russian. been normal procedure. This is why - at The question of which languages to regular intervals - there are the same teach can only be answered by considering complaints about ineffective language the local situation. It could be the language teaching. If we want the situation to change of a neighbouring country or of an ethnic during the next 10, 20 or 30 years, six group in the local community If early guidelines should be observed. foreign language learning is a contribution to general education, it really does not Guideline 1: The first foreign lan- matter which language is chosen. guage should be taught at primary level. Guideline 2: All schools should There is early foreign language teaching become bilingual institutions. in Austria, Finland, Luxembourg and Italy Why should it not bc possible in a In Germany, three federal states started multicultural and multilingual society to obligatory early foreign language teaching introduce bilingual education as the stand- in 1993. But in most European countries, ard form of school? Wherever schools offer language learning starts much later, at the bilingual schemes, only positive results have beginning of secondary education. been seen, What are the advantages of an early In the past, learning foreign languages start? There is sufficient evidence from was regarded as a difficult task, and was research and experience that young children excluded from many curricula. Now, it is can achieve success unsurpassed by other common knowledge that language learning age groups (Freudenstein, 1979). In pronun- need not be more difficult than other ciation, they can establish a sound basis for subjects. It is the methods we use that make life-long foreign language use. Bilingual it difficult. If foreign language instruction children can be superior in verbal and non- starts at primary level and learning is play- verbal behaviour. Intellectually, a childs oriented and focussed on childrens interests, experience with two languages seems to there is hope that after four years of instruc- give greater mental flexibility, superiority in tion, various school subjects could be taught concept formation and more diversified in the foreign language. This means each mental abilities. Early language experience school could become a bilingual institution. may also determine language aptitude. The advantages of using a second language Children who start a foreign language for regular instruction are obvious. When early in life can better understand their History, Geography, or Mathematics is native language since they become con- offered in Spanish, English or French, scious of language as a phenomenon. Their children learn to use and accept different cultural outlook is wider than that of languages for general education and not monolingual children who often believe that purely for the sake of language learning. their own culture, language and customs are If this guideline is accepted, basic the only ones that matter in the world. changes can be foreseen in two areas. First, Introducing a foreign idiom into the childs initial teacher training must be reorganised world helps to develop tolerance towards so that foreign language teachers can teach people who are different, and therefore other school subjects besides the language contributes to international understanding. they have studied. Secondly, we need new In most early language programmes, teaching materials for bilingual schools. learning starts in the third year of primary Authentic textbooks from other countries school. In future, it should begin when could be used, and new materials designed children start their formal education, in the for bilingual classrooms. An encouraging first year of primary school. There are beginning in Germany was the publication already many successful foreign language of Geography and History textbooks in projects even at pre-school level. In the English called There and Then and Around German Waldorf school system, for exam- the World which cover topics like Food and ple, primary language teaching starts with harvests and The Olympic Games 225 On JALT96: Crossing Borders (Biederstadt and Whittaker, 1992). More commercial language ccntrcs and adult such materials should be offered in coming schools together cover the needs of lan- years so that the foreign language can guage learners. The German adult education gradually become a second language. association hopes to convince all adult language centres to offer, by the year 2000, Guideline 3: All children should learn courses in all languages of the European two languages at school. Union. Programmes like this arc necessary The Commission of the European to prepare people for their future lives: a Union and the Council of Europe are in French teacher working in Greece, a German favour of this, and most educators agree: doctor practising in Portugal, an Italian every child should have the chance to learn baker working in Denmark - these will be at least two languages during his or her no exceptions 20 years from now. school life. I hope that, in future, pcoplc within the By learning another language 1 mean United States of Europe will think of their learning to communicate in that language. neighbours in the same way that Americans For more than a century, language teaching in the United States of America think of in Europe has been regarded as a gateway to their fellow citizens. ideally there should not a so-called higher culture, great literature be Italians, Germans and other nationalities, and foreign civilisation. Many Europeans but Italian Europeans, German Europeans still believe that language learning should and so on. And these Europeans should be remain the privilege of an elite or-what is bi- or multilingual so that the Union can worse-that knowing a foreign language is function. Other important languages should not necessary. also be offered in and outside schools, such There is a story that German Chancellor as Eastern and Northern European, Asian Helmut Kohl, when asked why he never and Arabic languages. More languages must learned English, replied: The German be added to the curriculum to prepare people have elected me as Chancellor, not as effective communication in the 21 st century. an interpreter. If such an attitude prevails, there is no room for a new and progressive Guideline 5: The time of instruction language policy. We can only hope for a should be shortened. vital, functioning, living European Union if One of the shortcomings of traditional its citizens can communicate with each other foreign language teaching at school is the in many languages. long time languages have to be studied. Lets Seen worldwide, a knowledge of other face it: it is demotivating to spend five, languages is-in spite of a wide-spread seven or even nine years on the same belief-not the exception, but the rule. In the subject. I therefore propose that a foreign multicultural Europe of the 21st century, language should not bc offered for more learning and using several languages should than four years in school. This is enough not be regarded as a luxury for a few, but as time to enable each learner to acquire a basic a prerequisite for all. knowledge to build on should it become necessary later. Guideline 4: The number of languages In many European school systems, at school should be increased. pupils in advanced foreign language classes The usual number of languages offered have to study literature and deal with at school is three. In the European Union, complex grammatical problems as if they however, all languages of its member states are preparing for a future as language have equal status, and all must become part teachers and professors of philology. But, of the curriculum. most of our students have entirely other Of course, not all official languages of foreign language needs They want to the Union-eleven so far, but soon twelve or become business pcoplc, work in commerce fifteen--can be offered in every school. But and industry, and need not know much these languages could be offered within a about Shakespeare or French classics. The reasonable distance from each citizens majority of learners arc better served by home. Cooperative programmes could be short, communicative courses in several set up so that public and private schools, languages than by long-term language 226 Linguapax classes of the traditional type. speakers can no longer be regarded as New forms of language instruction foreigners. If they lcavc their country and have therefore to be introduced. I have move to another state, they are still living in already mentioned bilingual education. Let Europe. Thus, there arc French Europeans, me name a few more. Compact courses Spanish Europeans, etc. available for could shorten the time for language learning teaching. and at the same time guarantee better Native speakers are the best language results (Freudenstein, 1989). The so-called teachers, provided they are properly alternative methods-from community trained, because they have a total command language learning and suggestopedia to of the language they use and teach. They superlearning and the Silent Way-seem to speak the language better than teachers who work, since institutions offering them have have learned it as a foreign language, and no problems recruiting language learners for can react to communicative situations their (often expensive) programmes. In spontaneously and realistically. Native Germany, a teacher once taught one year of speakers are the rule when teaching lan- traditional French instruction within three guages for communicative skills - in private weeks-two weeks at the beginning of the language schools, industrial firms and adult school year and one week at the end-with education courses. In order to qualify native remarkable results. The intensive course speakers to teach their mother tongues, new pupils were simply better in their oral courses of teacher education must be performance compared to classes taught the introduced. ordinary way four hours a week by textbook 1 have a vision. By the middle of the instruction (Preisendorfer, 1974). next century, all French classes in Europe In Switzerland, a teacher of French did will be taught by native French teachers, all away with the textbook and instituted classes in Italian by teachers from Italy, all learning in freedom. His pupils could do classes in German by German teachers. This whatever they liked during the four class is the way forward to a truly multilingual, hours per week, as long as it had to do with multicultural society. French. Some read newspapers, others These six guidelines could become the listened to records or talked about their basis for a new language policy in Europe interests. At the end of the year, these pupils They may not constitute the best possible showed better communicative results than framework, but they are at least a frame- those taught in the traditional way work. More people should think about them (Kaufmann, 1977). These examples show so that a suitable model can be put into there are many ways to improve foreign practice-the earlier, the better-to prepare language learning. Unfortunately not many the next generation for a future worth teacher—let alone administrators—believe living-in many languages. in them. Whenever I describe the learning in freedom project, the normal reaction is: References Impossible-that can’t be true! Much work Biederstadt, W. & Whittakcr. M. 1992. There must still be done to convince teachers there and Then. Arbeitsheft fur den are better ways of instruction than those erweiterten Englischunterricht Klasse 6. they experienced and those they practise in Around the World. Arbeitsheft fur den their classrooms. erweiterten Englischunterricht Klasse 7. Berlin: Cornelsen. Guideline 6: The regular language Freudenstein, Reinhold. (ed.). (1979). teacher should be the native speaker. Teaching foreign languages to the very Whenever I propose this in my country, young. Oxford: Pcrgamon. many teachers disagree. They claim a Freudenstein, Reinhold. (cd.). 1989. Multilin- teacher should know the language of the gual education through compact courses. students, have been educated in the school Tubingen: Narr. system in which they teach, and should be Fries, Charles C. 1952. The structure of accepted by students as one of us, not as a English. An introduction to the construc- foreigner. I do not believe this ideology. tion of English sentences. New York: Within the European Union, native Harcourt, Brace & World. 227 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Jespersen, Otto. 1904. How to teach a foreign des neusprachlichen Unterrichts. 3: 283- language (p. 96). London: Allen & 293. Unwin. Schroder, Konrad. (ed.) 1984. Wilhelm Vietor: Kaufmann, Franz. 1977. Lemen in Freiheit - Der Sprachunterricht muss umkehren. Ein im Fremdsprachenunterricht. Praxis des Pamphlet aus dem 19. Jahrhundert neu neusprachlichen Unterrichts. 3: 227-236. gelesen. Munchen: Hucbcr. Lado, Robert. 1964. Language teaching. A Vietor, Wilhelm. 1882. Der Sprachunterricht scientific approach. New York: McGraw- muss umkehren. Heilbronn: Henninger. Hill. Vietor, Wilhelm. 1902. Die Methodik des Palmer, Harold E. 1917. The scientific study neusprachlichen Unterrichts (p. 30). and teaching of languages (p. 116). New Leipzig: Teubner. York: World Book. Zimmermann, Gunther. 1984. Erkundungen Preisendorfer, Hans. 1974. Ein Jahrespensum zur Praxis des Grammatikunterrichts (p. Franzosisch in zwanzig Tagen? Praxis 31). Frankfurt: Dicstcrwcg. Colloquium: Linguapax, Language Teaching and Peace Education Kip Cates Tottori University Participants: Kip Cates, (Moderator) Tottori University, Japan Felix Marti, International Linguapax Committee, UNESCO Denis Cunningham, Victoria School of Languages, Australia Madeleine du Vivier, International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL), England Albert Raasch, Saarland University, Germany Reinhold Freudenstein, Philipps University, Germany Introduction Cunningham, secretary of the World This colloquium, sponsored by JALTs Federation of Modern Language Associa- Global Issues in Language Education tions (FIPLV), secretary of the Australian National Special Interest Group (N-SIG), Federation of Modern Language Teachers addressed the theme of language teaching Associations (AFMLTA) and organizer of and peace education with a focus on the UNESCO Linguapax V conference in UNESCOs Linguapax project. It brought Australia; (3) Madclcinc du Vivicr, Chair- together a number of key figures in the person of the UK-based International Linguapax movement to discuss how Association of Teachers of English as a foreign language educators can contribute Foreign Language (IATEFL); (4) Albert through their teaching to world peace and Raasch, professor of Applied Linguistics at improved international understanding. Kip the University of Saarland, Germany and Cates, coordinator of JALTs Global Issues N- editor of the 1991 UNESCO Linguapax book SIG, began the session by introducing the Peace through Language Teaching; and (5) five colloquium panelists: (1) Felix Marti, Reinhold Freudenstein, outgoing Director of President of the International Linguapax the Foreign Language Research Information Committee and Director of the UNESCO Centre, Philipps University, Germany. Center of Catalonia in Barcelona,; (2) Denis 228 Linguapax Marti: Linguapax, Language and the from the government so that, by the 1980s, Culture of Peace multiculturalism had replaced Dr. Felix Marti, President of the Interna- assimilationism, and monolingualism began tional Linguapax Committee, began by giving way to multilingualism. reviewing the points made in his conference He explained how a number of key keynote and by reemphasizing the commit- language policy documents reflect the ment of UNESCO to assist language teach- various rationales - enrichment, economics, ers around the world in promoting a culture equality -for choosing which languages to of peace. teach, The 1991 Australia’s Language: The Linguapax, he said, is a network of Australian Language and Literacy Policy professionals in the teaching of languages requested states to identify a core of eight and other subjects who believe in the from the following priority languages: importance of promoting respect for cultural Aboriginal languages, Arabic, Chinese, and linguistic diversity in education systems French, German, Indonesian, Italian, around the world. Language teachers can Japanese, Korean, Modern Greek, Russian, assist this aim by helping their students to Spanish, Thai and Vietnamese. The 1994 value diversity and respect differences as report Asian Languages and Australia’s called for by the United Nations Year for Economic Future emphasized economics, Tolerance in 1995. focussing on the “big four” languages: He explained how Linguapax is also an Japanese, Chinese (Mandarin), Indonesian international initiative in the field of and Korean. At the same time, a strong push education for peace. It aims to create the for “community languages” led to the conviction that peace is desirable and introduction in primary schools of lan- possible in conflict situations, and strives to guages reflecting local ethnic communities. eliminate through education the problems at This trend reflected the equality rationale, the root of violence and war. To achieve enunciated in a 1987 policy statement (Lo these aims, Linguapax has devised specific Bianco, p. 56), aimed at achieving social sets of educational guidelines, methods and justice and overcoming disadvantages. This materials developed in regional contexts evolving choice of languages in education, which can be adopted by teachers of foreign he said, demonstrates the thrust towards languages to promote peace and interna- tolerance, acceptance, integration and peace tional understanding. One example he cited within the Australian community. was a practical collection of classroom Cunningham then cited examples of teaching materials developed in Barcelona projects and publications where the objec- which deals with topics such as global tive, through languages, was on the interdependence, cooperation and conflict, fostering of tolcrancc, harmony and peace. images, perceptions and stereotypes, and environmental problems. l The Other 364 Days : Beyond the International Day (1987)-a text where Cunningham: Language and Peace: An students focus firstly upon their own culture, then consider ‘intercultural Australian Perspective interaction’ and finally move on to The second panelist, Denis ‘intercultural communication’. Cunningham, gave examples of Australian initiatives in fostering tolerance, harmony . Immigrants in the Bush (Dunn, 1989) - and peace through foreign language a text designed to help students teaching. He began by noting how develop and mature as socially Australias post-World War II migration led sensitive, thinking human beings to an influx of Non-English Speaking living in a diverse society. The Background (NESB) communities whose materials offer opportunities for languages - as those of the Aboriginal developing social knowledge, peoples before them - were neither accepted changing attitudes towards cultural nor encouraged by the wider English- differences, attacking ethnocentrism speaking Australian community. In the and prejudice, and bringing new 197Os, these NESB groups attracted increas- perspectives to Australian identity” ing political, legal and economic support (pg. 11) 229 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Another concerns the way in which peace l Globalchild (Cech, 1991) - a teaching education relates to the instrumental role of text which stresses commonalities English teaching. How should teachers among cultures, rather than confron- handle global issues and peace education tations, so as to help adults and when students wish to focus on the utilitar- children experience multiculturalism ian aspect of language learning in courses without feeling alienated or threat- such as English for science and technology ened. The book chooses a familiar or English for business? seasonal format rather than more Du Vivier went on to describe a number abstract anti-racist themes to ease the of initiatives by her organization 1ATEFL in transition from the known to the the area of peace education, global educa- unknown. tion and foreign language teaching: l Jamjoon : A Profile of Islam (El Erian, l IATEFL formed a Global Issues 1990) - a series of cross-curriculum Special lnterest Group (GISIG) in teaching materials written for young April 1996. This now works through Muslim and non-Muslim learners in its SIG activities and international multiethnic communities where newsletter to promote discussion Muslims live as a minority. This among 1ATEFLs membership of provides relevant information on global issues including peace, human Islam and targets the needs of groups rights and the environment, and of misunderstood or victimised for global education as an approach to reasons of race, religion, culture and/ language teaching. or politics. l IATEFL helps contribute to global Cunningham emphasized the effective- awareness through its annual ness of content-based immersion ap- international confcrcnce. This brings proaches. Through placing students in together language educators from another language environment, facilitating over 75 nations round the globe who thinking in the second language and build international networks of like- instilling an awareness of alternative ways minded colleagues as they share of viewing reality, this serves as an effective experiences, problems, projects and means of appreciating linguistic and plans in the teaching of English in cultural differences and engendering countries around the world tolerance and peace. l 1ATEFL contributes to an awareness Du Vivier: Linguapax and IATEFL: An of social issues through the themes International Perspective dealt with in its conferences and The third speaker, Madeleine du Vivier, publications. In addition to an annual spoke about the aims of UNESCOs global issues confcrcnce strand of Linguapax program from her perspective as papers, workshops and colloquia Chair of the UK-based International Asso- organized by the GISIG, this includes ciation of Teachers of English as a Foreign conference presentations and journal Language (IATEFL). In her talk, she dis- articles on topics such as language cussed the importance of peace and interna- and gender, and language and power. tional understanding as language teaching goals and commented on the work of l IATEFL has begun to promote IATEFL in promoting these through its international communication among international activities. its international affiliates and their Du Vivier mentioned a number of members through the Internet - a issues concerning the teaching of peace in powerful new medium which can language classrooms. One concerns the help to promote international power that the teacher wields in the class- understanding room vis-a-vis students and how this should be used when introducing global issues. 230 Linguapax l IATEFL has also been active in the how can you understand another drafting and promotion of interna- culture if you cannot compare it with tional documents such as the Interna- your own? tional Declaration of Linguistic Rights. 3. Empathy competence - We all know from a study of history and politics In addition to underlining her support that it is not sufficient to know that for the integration of peace and global issues others are different; we have to accept into language teaching, Du Vivier suggested their point of view, schemes of that language teachers involved in global behavior, arugments and decisions. issues consider drawing up a set of textbook To accept this difference, we have to content guidelines, similar to the gender be able to see the world from the guidelines entitled On Balance published by standpoint of others. the UK Women in TEFL group, which could be submitted to publishers with concrete 4. Intercultural competence - the ability to proposals of how commercial and school interact skillfully across cultures. This textbooks can promote peace and an is an application of skills from the understanding of global issues. first three levels which enable one to successfully interact with those from Raasch: Peace Through Language other cultures for work, negotiations, Teaching or cooperative problem solving of The fourth speaker, Albert Raasch, global issues. pointed out how education, according to the United Nations charter, should aim at 5. lntracultural competence -this fifth and promoting human rights, fundamental final level is a sense of world citizen- freedoms and friendship between peoples ship, an awareness of our planet as and nations. Linguistics, he stressed, is a one world. With this ability, we start human and ethical tool. Foreign language to look at other peoples and countries teaching can help learners to use their not as foreign but as part of the linguistic knowledge to foster and develop human family, members of the global tolerance, peace and international under- village, as one of us rather than standing. asoutsiders. Raasch then proposed a five point model of cultural studies he has devised Through these five competencies, that describes the basic skills promoted by students should thus be enabled (1) to learn Linguapax for effective peace education about a culture, (2) to compare cultures, (3) through language teaching. These five to understand the perspective of others, (4) competences, he argued, should be inte- to negotiate across cultures, and (5) to see grated into the cultural component of oneself and others as fellow citizens of one foreign language education. shared world. 1. Cultural competence - a knowledge of Freudenstein: Peace Education? No, geographical, historical, social and Thank You! cultural facts about the country or The final panelist, Reinhold culture of the language being studied. Freudenstein, stressed the important role This is the basis for the following that the modern language classroom has to levels but is usually all that is taught play in building a world of peace. Despite in current classrooms or textbooks. this, he said, few foreign language teachers include a peace education perspective in 2. Contrastive cultural competence - the their courses. In his talk, he outlined the ability to compare and contrast ones reasons why teachers find it difficult to deal own culture with the foreign culture, with peace and global issues in their a fundamental skill of language and teaching and gave suggestions about how to cultural understanding. After all, integrate a peace education component into the language classroom 231 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Freudenstein first noted the terrible 2. Most teachers and textbooks treat the impact of war in this century and the recent word peace as just another vocabu- 50th anniversary of World War II, a war that lary item, like butter or cowboy. lasted only 6 years but that brought death There is no concept, appeal or and suffering to millions worldwide. He exhortation behind the term. cited International Red Cross statistics which show that: 3. Current language teaching methodol- ogy is dictated by textbooks ap- l more than 200 wars have been fought proved by ministries of education since 1945 in which over 40 million which concentrate on grammar, people have been killed translation and literature.. While l 56 armed conflicts are taking place peace and international understand- worldwide involving over 17 million ing are praised as educational aims, refugees there is no systematic study and no l 95% of those affected by wars are teacher feels personally responsible innocent civilians for this. Given these facts, he said, it is highly 4. The word peace has been misused in appropriate that the report on the 1991 the past by socialist regimes in Linguapax III workshop was entitled Eastern Europe. The Berlin Wall, for Language Teaching in a World without Peace. example, was referred to as a peace There should be nothing more important protection wall by the East German today, he asserted, than to work towards regime. After a half century of seeing peace in the world on all levels, including peace used in the service of commu- the modern language classroom, bearing in nist ideology, many teachers am wary mind the statement of Pope John Paul II If of peace education. you want to reach peace, teach peace. Despite this, Freudenstein noted, few Finally, Freudcnstcin outlined three language teachers or students in Europe tasks he saw as necessary for changing the show much interest in peace education. For present situation: his university seminar in peace education, for example, only three students signed up, 1. We must continue our attempts to compared to 60 for such topics as computers convince our colleagues, and the in the language classroom. At a teacher general public, that peace education training seminar, only one of 200 partici- is one of the most important chal- pants attended his peace education work- lenges and opportunities for enabling shop. And in response to his article on peace the people in our world to live education and language teaching an angry together peacefully. We must strive to teacher wrote to criticize him for dealing introduce this topic in teacher with theoretical extras when he should training seminars and publications, in instead be concentrating on teaching national and local curricula, and in students grammar points such as the textbooks. difference between the past tense and present perfect. 2. We must convince the teaching Freudenstein mentioned four reasons profession that peace education is for this lack of interest: linked to our classroom teaching style. More than 90% of all teachers 1. Europe has been at peace for 50 years still practise an authoritarian ques- since the end of World War II, so tion-and-answer instructional European teachers dont see the need approach based on strict rules of for peace education. This means that command and obedience which tests teachers accept textbook topics such knowledge of the correct answer and as Mr. Carter at the Office rather than not what students think. To educate chapters on Hiroshima or World for peace starts with a peaceful Hunger. . educator. 232 Final Panel 3. We must introduce new classroom Park: Addison-Wesley. Dunn, M. (1989) Immigrants in the Bush: activities that truly promote peace. Teacher's Handbook. Armidale: Armidale Benjamin Franklin is supposed to have said, Tell me and I forget. Teach CAE. El Erian, M. A. et al (1990) Jamjoon: A Profile me and I remember. Involve me and I of Islam, Past, Present, Future: A Resource learn. In peace education, we are still on level 1 -telling our students about Book of Islam and the Muslim World. Melbourne: Islamic Publications global issues. Some teachers have (Australia). reached level 2 - teaching about peace Lo Bianco, J. (1987) National Policy on using materials from UNESCO and Languages. Fyshwick: Canberra Publish- elsewhere for promoting interna- tional understanding. We must now ing and printing Co. work for all students to be involved Lo Bianco, J. (1991) Australia’s Language: The in peace education activities so that Australian Language and Literacy Policy. Canberra: Australian Government they learn how to build a peaceful Publishing Service. world. Lo Bianco, J. (1987) The Other 364 days - Beyond the international day. Melbourne: References Multicultural Education Centre. Cech, M. (1991) Globalchild: Multicultural Resources for Young Children. Menlo 233 On JALT96: Crossing Borders 234 Section Seven Final Panel 235 On JALT96: Crossing Borders JALT FINAL PANEL Crossing Borders: Making Connections Kip Cates Tottori University Participants: Kip Cates, (Moderator) Tottori University, Japan Denis Cunningham, Victoria School of Languages, Australia Albert Raasch, Saarland University, Germany Braj Kachru, University of Illinois at Urbana-champaign, USA Carol Rinnert, Hiroshima City University, Japan This panel, the final session of the psychological, geographic, linguistic or conference, addressed the JALT97 confer- educational. As teachers, he said, we often ence theme Crossing Borders: Making create our own borders by the narrow, Connections. The moderator was Kip Cates, unconsidered views we may hold about coordinator of JALTs Global Issues N-SIG. language teaching and learning. By making The four panelists were: (1) Denis connections with new teaching approaches Cunningham, secretary of the World and philosophies, we can move beyond the Federation of Modern Language Associa- traditional ABCs of education - Alienation, tions (FIPLV), secretary of the Australian Boredom and Control. Another border that Federation of Modern Language Teachers prevents better language teaching, he said, Associations (AFMLTA) and organizer of is the border between disciplines. By the 1995 UNESCO Linguapax V conference making connections with other foreign in Australia; (2) Braj Kachru, Center for language teachers -teachers of French, Advanced Study Professor of Linguistics German or Japanese, for example - English and Jubilee Professor of Liberal Arts and language teachers can learn new ideas to Sciences at the University of Illinois at improve their teaching. By making connec- Urbana-Champaign, USA; (3) Albert Raasch, tions with other curriculum areas - social professor of Applied Linguistics at the studies, science or math - language teachers University of Saarland, Germany and editor can promote cross-curriculum cooperation of the 1991 UNESCO Linguapax book Peace and the integration of meaningful content. through Language Teaching; and (4) Carol And by making connections with fields such Rinnert, JALT96 conference co-chair and as global education and peace education, he Professor of International Studies at Hiro- said, language teachers can give their work shima City University, Japan. new relevance and inspire their students with a sense of world citizenship and an understanding of global issues. Introduction Kip Cates, the moderator, began the session by outlining the theme of the panel Denis Cunningham: A School Model and its focus on borders, barriers and from Australia connections. Barriers facing language The first speaker, Dcnis Cunningham, educators, he said, can be either physical, began his talk by explaining that the goal of 236 Final Panel overcoming barriers, crossing borders and in students who have recently arrived, or making connections can be achieved whose parents immigrated some years ago, through successful language teaching and from less harmonious situations across the learning. The challenge, he said, is to ensure globe. He then cited examples which that our language teaching is effective. demonstrate, in different ways, the means of When this is the case, the learning of tackling tension, confronting conflict and languages by our students will facilitate the promoting peace to accelerate the accept- objective of overcoming linguistic barriers ance of others. and enable students to cross those cultural borders which inhibit establishing connec- Croatian and Serbian Despite the conflict tions with new peoples, cultures and ways within the former Yugoslavia and the of viewing the world. While accepting that resulting tension between these two com- there is value in learning about other munities in Australia, the VSL has four peoples, cultures and global issues, centres where both these languages are Cunningham stressed that it is through taught side by side, with no appreciable thorough and effective language learning evidence of this global conflict. that we can successfully arrive at essential Arabic VSL offers Arabic language classes as intercultural understanding and tolerance, a catalyst for drawing together Arabic and and learn to comprehend the world from non-Arabic speakers from different coun- anothers linguistic, cultural and personal tries and even different religions, with standpoint. Coptic Christians joining Muslims to learn Cunningham then described a number Arabic. One instructor was born in Naza- of initiatives involving his institution, the reth, speaks Arabic as a first language, Victorian School of Languages (VSL), Hebrew as a second language, and is a perhaps the largest language school in the Christian. She and others defy stereotyping. world, where over 40 languages are taught This particular teacher commented as to 12,000 students in 636 classes at 29 follows on the role of Arabic language centres. The languages currently on offer teaching in helping students cross borders are: and make connections. In Australia, students from different Albanian, Arabic, Amharic, Bengali, Arabic backgrounds experience different Bosnian, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, relationships with each other than those Dari, Dutch, Estonian, Farsi, French, experienced by their parents and relatives in German, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungar- their homelands. Tolerance and acceptance ian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, are more likely to bc created among our Korean, Khmer, Kurdish, Latvian, students in Australia. When these students Lithuanian, Macedonian, Maltese, come together for Saturday classes, they Modern Greek, Polish, Portuguese, notice the diffcrcnccs in dialect and, as they Pushtu, Russian, Serbian, Sinhala, befriend each other, these differences are Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, acknowledged. Friendship on the one hand Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese and common Arabic literacy, traditions and (and Latin by distance mode). history create among these students a new Arabic unity missed by many of their With its diversity of cultures, religions, parents. races, and geographical provenances, Cunningham said, VSL is a microcosm of Portuguese In a senior class of Portuguese, Australian society and an excellent model of where students are of Portuguese, Austral- inter-racial harmony ian, East Timorese, Spanish and Italian Cunningham explained how, at VSL, background, the language learning program several languages are spoken by communi- prepared by the teacher, Anabela Sobrinho, ties or countries where tension or war - is based on the following Linguapax themes: recent or current - strains the reality of peace. The environment of tolerance, l Cultural Tolerance in a Multicultural harmony and unity within VSL, he said, Society l Elimination of Social Discrimination serves to attenuate or eradicate such. tension 237 On JALT96: Crossing Borders l Globalisation prescriptivism, usage and standardization - l Environmental Awareness with the current concerns of applied l World Population linguistics - power, identity, ideology and l Portuguese Discoveries and Today’s control - articulated by scholars such as John Situation -from Greed to Peace? Firth, Michael Halliday, Dell Hymes and l Creative Resolution of Domestic and William Labov. These ethical issues -such as Multicultural Conflicts the linguistic power to define and control - l Human Rights are particularly relevant at present given the unprecedented power of one language Cunningham concluded by arguing across cuItures when agendas for research that an approach like that at VSL can create are primarily set in Western contexts, a an environment conducive to peace through consequence of educational and economic the teaching of languages in a multilingual, inequalities and of indiffcrcncc toward multicultural context. Asian and African needs. Studies in these areas are relevant to the traditional concerns Braj Kachru: Uncomfortable Questions of applied linguists: program development, The second panelist, Braj Kachru, raised language planning, and curriculum devel- what he said were two uncomfortable opment. By questioning current paradigms questions that the English teaching profes- and practices, we can address issues related sion has generally pushed under the rug. to the roles of professional organizations The first relates to social relevance and and their channels of communication the social responsibilities of professionals. It (journals, newsletters, confcrcnces). In an is only very recently that professionals in ethical sense, he said, linguists have been language-related fields have begun to essentially social side-liners and not social engage publicly in self-evaluation and in critics. raising issues of an ethical nature. While the The second concern Kachru raised practice of self-evaluation is frequently relates to what he calls the leaks in applied adopted by sister disciplines such as linguistics. These relate to the identity of the political science and sociology, he said, it is field and its theoretical foundations. They somewhat disturbing that professionals in go beyond identity and theory to manifest applied linguistics have been by and large themselves in applied linguistic research - indifferent to these concerns. This ostrich- for example, what Butler terms the ELT like attitude, he said, is evident in two ways: empire (Butler, 1996) - and in applied first, in the way applied linguists view the linguistic and ELT professional organiza- applications and effects of the linguistic tions. These leaks, he said, arc of four types: sciences on the public; second, in the way applied linguists overlook - at least in print - •Theoretical leaks: These refer to the the ethical implications of various identity crisis of applied linguistics in endeavors in which the profession is terms of the characterization and engaged. Kachru touched on the suspicion goals of the field. This involves not of the general public towards linguistics in only conceptualization between the the 1960s and cited Bolinger (1980:l): sociological vs. psychological ap- proaches (Halliday vs. Chomsky) but In language, there are no licensed also between the paradigms of practitioners, but the woods are full applied linguistics generally followed of midwives, herbalists, colonic in the USA and the UK. irrigationists, bone setters and general-purpose witch doctors - l Methodological leaks: These are of some abysmally ignorant, others three types. The first involves with a rich fund of practical conceptualizations of speech commu- knowledge - whom one shall lump nities with reference to English, together and call SHAMANS. particularly in what has been termed the Third World. This is not merely a He contrasted the ethical issues debated question of definitions but relates to by applied linguists in the 1960s - societal realism, language use and Final Panel interaction. types of input, and types In addition to national borders between of creativity. The second involves countries, Germany is also marked by indifference towards the sociolinguis- another type of geographical border - that tic contexts and consumers of applied between regions. The geographical, social linguistic researh in the developing and psychological border between the world. The third relates to the former East Germany and West Germany, introduction of pedagogical method Raasch said, constitutes a kind of internal as the proverbial Procrustean bed: the border in now reunified Germany that is view that all cultures, all speech reflected in the language learning experi- communities, all users of language ence of each region. Another border that must fit into one mould. This is exists is the border between different kinds particularly true of current research of German citizens, for example, between on genre analysis and ESP. native-born Germans and newly arrived immigrants from other countries. A fourth l Pragmatic leaks: These relate to kind of border is the border between issues such as linguistic models and generations, between the older generation their relevance to the contexts of Asia which experienced WWII and the Cold War and Africa, and paradigms which and the new younger post-Cold War result in various types of inequality. generation of modern Germany. All these borders, whether physical, regional, ethnic l Ethical leaks: For these, we must pay or generational, impact on the teaching and attention to Bolingers warning that learning of foreign languages and on the truth is a linguistic question, and that promotion of mutual understanding. In the ethical values must receive profes- same way, language teaching can also help sional attention. to bridge these various borders between different nations, regions, cultures and It is rewarding to ask ourselves, Kachru generations, and thus work to promote concluded: What are the underlying reasons peace. for our perceptions of a speech community? If we look at education, he said, there is What are the implications of our descriptive one final border that we must be aware of - labels? Do some of us use our access to the border between teachers and students. language and cultures with motives which Teachers must be aware of the gulf that can are open to question? These are ethical exist in the classroom bctwccn teachers and questions, he said, which the profession at learners, and must do their best to bridge large must address. that gulf and to see things from the learners perspectives. Raasch concluded by describ- Albert Raasch: A Perspective from ing a number of European initiatives in Germany cross border exchanges which involved The third panelist, Albert Raasch, began language learning and the promotion of his talk by referring to the panel theme international understanding. crossing borders and by discussing four different types of border - physical, cultural Carol Rinnert: Crossing Borders, and psychological -that exist in his native Making Assumptions country, Germany. The first type of border, The fourth panelist, Carol Rinnert, he said, is national borders between coun- outlined what she felt were common tries. In contrast to Japan, an island country, barriers and important connections for the Germany, is a nation of borders, surrounded field of foreign language teaching. She first by nine different countries - France, Switzer- touched on her role as JALT96 conference land, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, organizer and her mixed feelings in choos- Denmark, Holland, Belgium and Luxem- ing the theme: crossing borders. Perhaps, bourg. The German awareness of national she said, this should have been changed to borders and the role of these borders in eliminating borders or making borders shaping German history, culture, society fuzzy. She then went on to raise a number of and the German view of foreign peoples and assumptions concerning language teaching languages, is, therefore, large. . 239 On JALT96: Crossing Borders and learning which she felt served to create potential and results in low teacher effort barriers between people and prevent more and expectations. effective foreign language education. One set of assumptions related to language Rinnert went on to look at two addi- teaching in Japan while another set was tional assumptions that create barriers relevant to the academic world generally. within the academic community For Japan, Rinnert discussed the following four assumptions: Assumption #5: Applied linguists cant be serious academics. This belief, the result of Assumption #I : “Non-Japanese teachers of academic snobbery by scholars in more foreign languages are not qualified to make theoretical disciplines, ignores the great academic decisions in the Japanese context. progress in research and education made in This assumption, made by, among others, the field of applied linguistics and serves as Japanese school administrators and program a justification for conferring low status and coordinators, prevents the active participa- low salaries on applied linguists. tion of native speaker teachers in program planning and development, and prevents Assumption #6: Women cant be serious effective cooperation between Japanese and academics. This assumption, still alive today non-Japanese teaching staff. despite the progress made in raising awareness and eliminating sexism in society, Assumption #2: “Only native English- prevents women from taking an equal role speaking teachers can teach English conver- in academic research and education and sation”. This stereotype, held by members of denies them the chance to contribute their the general public and by some in the talents and ideas in the academic world. Japanese English teaching establishment, denies capable Japanese and other teachers Rinnert concluded by mentioning two the chance to teach English communication connections she felt necessary to improve skills solely on the basis of their nationality. the effectiveness of language learning and At the same time, it reinforces the wide- intercultural understanding. The first is the spread belief that learning to communicate connection that needs to be made between with native English speakers is more classroom language and real language use important than learning to communicate in in the outside world. Too often, she said, English with non-native speakers, whereas classroom teaching tends to focus on the reality for a majority of students in Japan language used to illustrato aspects of increasingly supports the opposite. grammar rather than real uses of the language in communication. The second Assumption #3: Japanese students can connection that needs to bc made is a shift never learn fluent English. This belief, held from stressing cross-cultural differences to by both Japanese students and teachers, acknowledging the human universals that effectively blocks students from ever transcend language differences. reaching this goal and results in half-hearted teaching and low motivation. References Assumption #4: Non-Japanese learners of Bolinger, D. (1980). Language: The loaded Japanese as a foreign language can never weapon. The use and abuse of language learn fluent Japanese. This assumption, the today. London: Longman, p. 1. flip side of assumption #3, prevents foreign Butler, S. (1996) World English in an Asian learners of Japanese from reaching their context: The Macquaric Dictionary Project. World Englishes. 15.3. 240 Final Panel JALT96: FINAL PANEL Remarks by Braj B. Kachru University of Illinois at Urbana I believe that this concluding panel of generation later, one might ask: Has the JALT 1996 is the right place to raise a few situation changed during the past thirty questions and issues-rather uncomfortable years? Have linguists seriously worked to ones-which the profession has generally demonstrate the relevance of their pushed under the rug. 1 am grateful for this discipline? opportunity to share my concerns with you. Sixteen years after that observation, the The following two types of questions come venerable Bolinger (1980:l) lamented that: to mind. The first type of question relates to In language there are no licensed social relevance and social responsibilities of practitioners, but the woods are full the professionals. It is only very recently of midwives, herbalists, colonic that the professionals in language-related irrigationists, bone setters and fields have begun to engage publicly in self- general-purpose witch doctors- evaluation, in raising what may be called some abysmally ignorant, others issues of an ethical nature. with a rich fund of practical This practice of self-evaluation is knowledge-whom one shall lump frequently adopted by a variety of sister together and call SHAMANS. disciplines: anthropology political science, sociology, and even some literature depart- In the 1960s, and earlier, the debate on ments. It is, therefore, somewhat disturbing ethical issues in applying linguistics that the professionals in applied linguistics primarily focused on prescriptivism, usage, have been by and large indifferent to these and standardization. Consider, for example, concerns. This ostrich-like attitude is evident the controversies about Webster‘s Third New in two ways: first, in the way applied International Dictionary of the English linguists view the applications and effects of Language, Unabridged, and other usage the linguistic sciences on the public; second, volumes. However, during the past three in the way applied linguists overlook-at decades, within the new paradigms of the least in print-the ethical implications of linguistic sciences, we find articulation of various endeavors in which the profession is theoretical and methodological approaches engaged. which are redefining applied linguistics, its It was only a generation ago, in 1964, foundations, scope, and concerns. during the Structuralist phase in linguistics, The approaches I have specifically in that six architects of our discipline in the mind are those of John R. Firth, Michael A. USA conceded that “a fair portion of highly K. Halliday, Dell Hymes, and William educated laymen see in linguistics the great Labov, to name just four. The concerns of enemy of all they hold dear.” These six applied linguistics now rightly include gurus, Charles Ferguson, Morris Halle, Eric issues of power, identity, ideology, and Hamp, Archibald Hill, Thomas Sebeok, and control. William Moulton, have in one role or The recent studies discussing these another been our teachers and readers in topic and directly relevant to our profession their areas of specialization. And now, a raise refreshing and stimulating questions 241 On JALT96: Crossing Borders about linguistic power-the power to define limitations of the paradigms of applied and the power to control. A detailed linguistics, to refer to the overwhelming bibliography and a state-of-the-art survey is ideological and methodological biases of the given in Kachru 1994 and 1997. paradigms, and to raise questions The ethical questions now being concerning ethical issues and articulated have become especially professionalism in applied linguistics meaningful in the present context, when research. I might be more specific and say there is overwhelming and unprecedented that the perceived ‘leaks’ are of four types: power of one language across cultures, Theoretical, Methodological, Pragmatic, and when there is domination of Western Ethical. Let me briefly discuss these. research paradigms in the non-Western world, and when agendas for research are Theoretical leaks: By theoretical leak I mean primarily outlined and set in the Western the identity crisis of applied linguistics: contexts. This situation is essentially a Crisis in terms of characterization of the consequence of inequalities in education field and the goals of the applied enterprise. and economic resources and of indifference This does not involve only toward Asian and African research and conceptualization between the sociological needs. vs. psychological approaches (Halliday vs. I believe that these questions are being Chomsky), but also bctwccn the paradigms raised at just the right time. They provide of applied linguistics as generally followed stimuli for self-evaluation and reflection. in the USA and the UK (for further And such studies have relevance to some of discussion and refcrcnccs see Kachru 1992 the traditional concerns of applied linguists: and 1996). program development, language planning, and curriculum development (See, e.g., Methodological leaks: These arc of three types. Tickoo ed. 1991). The first involves conceptualizations of By questioning the current paradigms “speech communities,” with reference to and practices, we are able to address issues English, particularly in what has been related to the roles of professional termed “the Third World.“ These questions organizations and the channels of are not merely of definitions but relate to communication used by the leaders of such societal realism, to language use and organizations (e.g., journals, newsletters, language interaction, to types of input, and conferences, and conventions). to types of creativity. The second involves I hope that what I have said above indifference toward the sociolinguistic provides a backdrop against which we can contexts and consumers of applied research view the significance of this convention. The in the developing world. The third relates to fact still remains that in an ethical sense, the introduction of pedagogical method as linguists have been, to quote Bolinger again the proverbial Procrustian bed: the view that (1973), essentially “social side-liners” and all cultures, all speech communities, all not social critics. users of language must fit into one mould. The other concern relates to what I have This is particularly true of current research called earlier the “leaks” in applied on genre analysis and ESIP. linguistics (Kachru 1992). These “leaks” relate to the identity of the field and its Pragmatic leaks: Pragmatic concerns relate to theoretical foundations. These leaks go issues such as linguistic models and their beyond identity and theory, however, and relevance to the contexts of Asia and Africa also manifest themselves in applied and paradigms which result in various types linguistic research, for example what Butler of inequality. These issues have been terms the “ELT empire” (1996), and in other discussed in detail in Kachru 1986, areas of language-related fields. I am also Pennycook 1994, Phillipson 1992, Tollefson thinking of the professional organizations 1991, and Tsuda 1994a and 1994b. that are involved in applied linguistics and ELT. Ethical leaks: We must pay attention to I am using the term ‘leak” here in more Bolinger’s warning that “truth” is a than one sense: to refer to the perceived linguistic question, and ethical values must 242 Final Panel receive professional attention. Kachru, Braj B. (1986b) The power and politics of English. World Englishes 5.2-3, We will agree that all language-related pp. 121-140. fields are interrelated to various degrees. It Kachru, Braj B. (1992) Why applied linguis- is, therefore, rewarding to ask ourselves tics leaks. Plenary address at the from time to time: What are the underlying Annual Convention of American reasons for our perceptions of a speech Association of Applied Linguistics. Seattle, Washington. February 28 - community? What are the implications of March 2, 1992. our descriptive labels? And do some of us Kachru, Braj B. (1993) Ethical issues for use our access to language and cultures with applying linguistics: Afterword. In motives which are open to question? The Connor-Linton and Adger eds. 283-294. questions such selfexamination raise are Kachru, Braj B. (1994) World Englishes: not just attitudinal, methodological, and Approaches, issues and resources. In theoretical: These are ethical questions Readings on Second Language Acquisition, which the profession at large must address. edited by D. Brown and S. Gonzo, New The concerns I have expressed are not York: Prencice-Hall. (an earlier version mutually exclusive. In one way or the other, in Language Teaching: The International they contribute to the linguistic lameness of Abstracting Journal of Language Teachers those who are the consumers of our and Applied Linguistics January. Cam- bridge: Cambridge University Press, theoretical and applied research. And in pp. l-14. some way all these relate to our Kachru, Braj B. (1995) Past imperfect. profession-directly or indirectly. All these Plenary address at the Second Interna- concerns are of vital importance to the Third tional Conference on World Englishes, World, but they are not exclusively the Nagoya, Japan, May 25-28,199 . problems of the Third World. There is an Kachru, Braj B. (1996) The paradigms of extensive body of studies on this topic from marginality. World Englishes 15.3. the developed countries. Baugh (1988: 72) Kachru, Braj B. (1997) World Englishes and gives a moving description of his English-using communities. Annual experiences in the USA (see also Connor- Review of Applied Linguistics 17. Cam- Linton and Adger, eds., 1993). He rightly bridge: Cambridge University Press. cautions us that “a similar story could be Phillipson, Robert (1992) Linguistic Imperial- ism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. told in many countries where race and Tickoo, Makhan L. ed. (1991) Language and language correspond to social stratification.” standards: Issues, attitudes, case studies. The concerns, therefore, are common, and [Anthology Series 26]. Singapore: the limitations and exploitation of human SEAMEO Regional Language Centre. language are shared across geographical, Tollefson, James W. (cd.) (1991) Planning cultural, linguistic, and political boundaries. language, planning inequality: Language policy in the community. London: References Longman. Baugh, John. (1988) Language and Race: Tollefson, James W. (cd.) (1995) Power and Some Implications for Linguistic inequality in language education. Cam- Science. In Linguistics: The Cambridge bridge: Cambridge University Press. Survey IV Language: The Sociocultural Tsuda, Yukio (1994a) The hegemony of Context. Edited by F.J. Newmeyer. English in international communica- Cambridge: Cambridge University tion. Paper presented at the annual Press. 65-74 convention of International Communi- Bolinger, Dwight L. (1980) Language: The cation Association. Sydney, Australia. loaded weapon: The use and abuse of Tsuda, Yukio (1994b) The diffusion of language today. London: Longman. English: Its impact on culture and Butler, Susan (1996) World English in an communication. Keio Communication Asian context: The Macquarie Diction- Review. 16: 49-61. ary Project. World Englishes. 15.3. Connor-Linton and Carolyn Temple Adger Guest eds. (1993) Ethical issues for applying linguistics. Special issue of Issues in Applied Linguistics. 243 On JALT96: Crossing Borders Abstracts Section One: Introduction Crossing Borders: Some Values to Declare Julian Edge Abstract Not Available Opening Borders with World Englishes: Theory in the Classroom Braj B. Kachru What Makes a Good Language Lesson (Part 2) Stephen M. Ryan Abstract Not Available Section Two: Teacher Development Mosaics of Teacher Development and Socialization Andrew Barfield, Paul A. Beaufait. Sean Conley, Tim Murphey, & Katsura Haruko Questions about Teaching? Answers from Teachers! David Cozy. Atsuko Kashiwagi, Eugenia Medrano-Endo, Christopher Jon Poel, Spencer Weatherly Section Three: In the Classroom Cooperative Learning at the Post- Secondary Level in Japan Steve McGuire, Patricia Thornton, David Kluge Crosscultural Aspects of Teachers Roles Barbara H. Wright Shared Inquiry Fosters Critical Thinking Skills in EFL Students Carol Abstract not available Browning, Jerold Halvorsen. Denise Ahlquist Materials Writers NSIG Workshop: Professional Critique of Abstract not available Preliminary Textbook Manuscripts Ian B. Gleadall Story Grammar: A Reading and Discussion Strategy Gregory Strong 245 The Use of Japanese Literature in Reading Classes Sachiko Ikeda An Analysis of particle usage Ga-0 FL Reading and Multi-Media: conversion (In Japanese) Takako Psycholinguistic Views Syuhei Kadota, Ishida Masao Tada. Yuko Shimizu. & Shinji Kimura In this paper we study how Japanese use "ga" or "o" before the NA -adjective "suki" and “kirai.” The surveys were conducted by two questionnaires, one about "suki" (n=504) and the other about “kirai.” (n=441). The analysis of the survey findings are: 1) ” . ..was~ga suki” and “...was~ga kirai.” can be qualified as a standard usage as it has been before. 2) “...was~o suki” can be regarded as an acceptable usage although it has not been accepted by many traditional Japanese grammarians. 3) The usage of “...wa~ o suki” and 246 “...wa~ o kirai.” is influenced by the object that follows, whether it is animate or inanimate. 4) The acceptability of “...a~o kirai.” is less than that of “...wa~o suki. " Conversation Strategies, timed practice, and Noticing in Large Oral Communication Classes Tom Kenny Amaterasu and the Power of Dance in the Classroom David Bell Writing and peer Feedback Tasks Guy Kellogg & L. Scott Rogstad 247 Section Four: Using Technology in the Classroom Concept-Acquisition: Tapping the Internet for Ideas Jack Kimball The Process of Revising Tests and Creating Parallel Forms Alan Hunt & David Beglar Making reading more Manageable-the choice Offered by On-line Newspapers and Magazines Anthony Robins Continuous Assessment Facilitated by CAI Colin Painter Computerized Test and Material Production John Bauman 248 Designing genre-based materials to Use with Videos Damian Lucantonio Comparing Cultures through Critical Thinking: Development and Interpretations of Meaningful Observations Laurel D. Kamada Authority and Individualism in Japan Section Five: Culture and the USA Alisa Woodring Towards True Multiculturalism: Ideas for Teachers Brian McVeigh 249 Study Trip to France (in French) Alain Lauffenburger Folklore in the ESL Classroom Virginia A. Jenkins Everything you Need to Know Begins at Kindergarten Laura MacGregor Abstracts Commonly Asked Global Issues Questions Jessica Newby Kawata, David Peaty, Donna Mclnnis, & Junko Mukainakano Gender Issues in Language Education Thomas Hardy, Amy Yamashiro, Cheiron McMahill Redefining our Educational Parameters with the Model United Nations Eton F. Churchill, Jr. Culture, Variation, and English Language Education Yamuna Kachru Abstract not Available Section Six: Linguapax UNESCO Linguapax at JALT96 Kip Cafes 251 Language Education for World Peace Felix Marti Colloquium: Linguapax, Language Teaching and Peace Education Kip Cates, Felix Marti. Denis Cunningham, Madeleine du Vivier, Albert Raasch, & Reinhold Freudenstein Linguapax, Language Learning and Technology Denis Cunningham Section Seven: Final Panel JALT Final Panel Crossing Borders: Making Connections Kip Cates, Denis Cunningham, Albert Raasch, Braj B. Kachru. & Carol Rinnert Modern Language Teaching after the Year 2000 Reinhold Freudensfein JALT96: Final Panel Braj B. Kachru Abstract not Available 252 ! JALT Journal Call for Papers The editors of the JALT Journal, the research journal of the Japan Association for Language Teaching, seek practical and theoretical articles concerned with foreign language teaching and learning in Japanese, Asian, and international contexts. The JALT Journal welcomes well written contributions which provide readers with a link between theoretical and practical issues, especially those addressing current concerns in pedagogy, methods, and applied linguistics. The editors encourage submission of full-length articles, short research reports, book and media reviews, essays on trends in language education, reports of pedagogical techniques which are thoroughly framed in theory and supported by descriptive or empirical data, and comments on previously published JALT Journal articles. Articles should be written with a general audience of language educators in mind, with statistical techniques and unfamiliar terms clearly explained or defined. The JALT Journal uses the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 4th edition. Submit three copies of manuscripts, with author references removed, along with a cover sheet containing an abstract, author names and brief biographies. Requests for Submission Guidelines should be addressed in English to: Sandra Fotos, JALT Journal Editor (incoming), Senshu University, 2-1-1 Higashi Mita, Tam-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 214 Japan. Requests for Japanese-language Submission Guidelines should be addressed to: Naoko Aoki, JALT Journal Japanese-language Editor, Shizuoka University, Department of Education, 836 Oya, Shizuoka 422 Japan On JALT96: Crossing Borders The Japan Association for Language Teaching, perhaps Asia’s largest professional language teaching organization, is proud to offer On JALT96: Crossing Borders to the language teaching community. JALT hosts the largest annual international conference in the region on language teaching and learning, bringing noted scholars and teacher trainers to Japan from around the world, and offering more than 250 presentations on the art and craft of language teaching as well as leading edge research in the field On JALT96: Crossing Borders, brings to language educators a snapshot of the conference highlights. The editors have compiled a wide-range of articles grouped into thematic areas covering topics such as teacher development, classroom practice, technology in the classroom, and culture. There is also an introductory section with articles by two of the plenary speakers, Julian Edge and Braj B. Kachru, and a section devoted to the UNESCO Linguapax delegation that was a special part of JALT96. A Special Supplement to The Language Teacher