EFL in Japan

Words and letters may not be all they're cracked up to be

2011-11-24T16:14:00.001+09:00

Today I want to tell a story. This story had an impact on the way that I organize my lessons, the way that I view my role as a teacher, and the importance of remembering or memorizing dialogs for language learning.

This story comes to us from Plato's Phaedrus. In the story Socrates tells the story of Theuth, an Egyptian god who discovered numbers, calculation, geometry, and writing. One day Theuth was talking to the king of Egypt, Thamus, and said that he had a special gift. There is a thing that if the people learn it, they will improve their memories and become wiser. The king replied that Theuth's perception of writing was skewed, and that he did not understand it properly. Instead of remembering and understanding things, students would rely on writing as a way of being reminded. Students will be exposed to many ideas, but will not think about them properly, and while appearing to be wise, will know nothing.

I came to two conclusions after reading this story.

1. In a general sense, presenting material in a written form and not expecting students to remember it detracts from their ability to improve their intelligence. It has been shown that simple memory ability can predict intelligence, and that ability can be improved through practice.

2. Written words interfere with my students' acquisition of English. This may sound like a rediscovery of the audio lingual method, and it may be, but without most of the behaviorist theory. In classes that I teach, I use my own teaching materials. I have been handing out the materials before an activity, and when it involves the use of a dialog, the students have it before they listen to me and/or my partner teacher repeat the dialog.

As a result of reading this story, I started to think about what was happening with my students. This, I guess, is the sequence they experience.

1. Materials received. Begin to read content.
2. Follow teacher's direction to look at the dialog (which they have read, if only silently, already).
3. Listen to the teacher(s) read the dialog while looking at the words on paper.
4. Follow the teacher's direction to read and repeat
5. Move on to related activities

They have read the dialog and heard what was said then by the teachers through their own filers first, and move on before having time to incorporate what is said.

To test this presumption about students' perceptions, I altered my presentation method. Since my students are at a beginner level, I chose a dialog that was applicable to the content we were going to cover anyway, so as to remain within the bounds of the syllabus, but shorter than the one originally planned.

This was the progression I used for both classes.
1. Instructed students not to write anything.
2. Introduced pre-listening questions
3. Reviewed answers to pre-listening questions
4. Asked students to repeat the dialog section by section after me, imitating my speech whether they "understood" it or not.
5. I then split the class into groups to recite parts of the dialog, which they were now beginning to memorize.
6. Finally, I asked them to use a pencil and do a dictation of the dialog, after which I gave each of them a paper version of the dialog to check their written dialog against.
7 I explained the content in Japanese (their L1) and then read it again with the paper.
8. We then practiced the dialog with the paper.

Judging by their reactions, the students experienced a heightened awareness of pronunciation and meaning in the dialog without having a print version available at the beginning. Since they were only listening to me and then repeating the dialog, they were less likely to read it in a Japanese pronunciation as they are encouraged to do in some of their high school classes.

They were more realized and playful than times when they were given a written version of the dialog first.

After reading the tale of Theuth and Thamus, I became convinced that letters can be counterproductive, especially if the one goal of the class is to remember and make language part of the learners' intellectual too kit. Simply reading aloud promotes the reuse and reinforcement of fossilized language habits.
(Image from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Thoth.svg)

Using Newspaper Inserts to Teach Ethos, Pathos, and Logos

2011-11-22T14:11:00.001+09:00

I teach a seminar class where we are learning debate, and last week we staged a debate about whether nurses from other countries should be admitted into the country. It went well, except that the students had a difficult time of attacking their opponents' arguments directly, so I was trying to think of how to give them experience in attacking an opinion or set of opinions.

I decided to give them something less emotionally charged than arguments from their classmates. My original plan was to buy some Japanese magazines so that the students could choose the ads that they were interested in. I abandoned that idea after I found it very difficult to choose suitable magazine content.

Instead, I chose some inserts from the newspaper, all in Japanese, all touting easily identifiable products or services.

I gave them a brief lesson on Aristotle's Ethos, Logos, and Pathos, and then let each group of 3 students choose one of the inserts to descent.

There were several different advertisements to choose from. The easiest ones to use seemed to be those selling nutritional supplements, pachinko, restaurants, and electric appliances. My students were not interested in the pachinko advertisements.

After finishing with the Japanese advertisements, I gave them magazines written in English so that they could search for an ad about which they could discern the Ethos, Logos, and Pathos, based mostly on the images rather than having to rely on the meaning of words.

This activity worked well, and the students got some practice taking apart arguments using language, and those using predominantly images. Next we will have to try to examine verbal arguments from others in the same way.

Another seal gets a certificate of residence (住民票）

2011-10-19T13:35:00.002+09:00

A town in Saitama, Japan issued a Certificate of Residence (COR) to a seal that has found its way into a river and is living there.

I find this offensive, because as a tax-paying, volunteering, child-raising upstanding resident of my town, I will not be issued a COR because I am a foreigner.

That just about makes me more angry than I have been in a very long time. This cretinous government can't be trusted to make ethical decisions about any human rights issue. Remember that next time you consider doing business with any Japanese entity.

http://www.fnn-news.com/news/headlines/articles/CONN00209724.html

FNNニュース: 埼玉・志木市の荒川に...

埼玉・志木市の荒川に現れたアザラシの「あらちゃん」に市が特別住民票交付:埼玉・志木市の荒川に現れ、話題となっているアザラシの「あらちゃん」

This isn't the first time someone has done this, and for any variety of animals. And this isn't the most egregious offense of late. The documents they issued to the UN about human rights in Japan is worthless, and doesn't even cover the issues that most interest the UN, like child abductions or discrimination laws.

This link is to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Human Rights Commitments and Pledges

Open Letter to the Reptilian Overlords RE: Education

2011-10-12T17:07:00.000+09:00

{EAV_BLOG_VER:8690fb60c619c383}
Dear Reptilian Overlords,

This letter is in reference to how education is supposed to work. It has come to my attention that you have abrogated our agreement. You have broken our contract. You may have done this willfully or without awareness, but you have failed to keep your end of the bargain as regards education. Allow me to remind you about how this is supposed to work.

People, young and old, but mostly young, spend great portions of their lives in learning sufficient amounts of information to be accredited graduates from the educational system. They may exit the system at various levels, but usually at the high school, college, or graduate levels.

This education is funded through taxes, individual earnings, family contributions, and private and public organizations. The cost increases as the level of education proceeds. The cost also varies according the content of the education and the institution that offers the graduate accreditation.

The following is where the most egregious abrogation of our agreements occurs, so please pay special attention. When a person has been conferred with the essential documents of graduation, that person will then seek gainful employment based on that education. At present they are not able to find this employment. Please see this graphic.

This graphic shows that 44.4% of graduates from undergraduate colleges under the age of 25 are not working or working in jobs that do not require a college education.

Immediate redress of this situation is in your best interests as well as ours. If this situation is not addressed, education will be seen for the general farce that most of it is. The situation is this, and I will use my own personal experience in American public education as an example. I was subject to far too many hours of tedium, expected to learn irrelevant minutiae while being prevented from exploring valuable real learning, and graduated with a graduate degree in foreign languages that I grudgingly admit has been of hardly any use to me at all in my profession as a foreign language teacher. The only value I believe I received from this experience are the human connections I made while in the school.

If this situation continues, you will be the ones who lose, because the flimsy veil of legitimacy will have been removed, and the low quality waste of time will be revealed for what it is.

Dolphins in Taiji

2011-09-14T14:27:00.000+09:00

In Taiji, Japan at this time of year, there is a harvest of the dolphin population. A few are collected and sent of to aquariums around the world. More are slaughtered for their meat. At other times during the year, Japanese ships head out to hunt whales, whose meat finds its way to grocery shelves around Japan in both fresh and canned form. This harvest is said to be for scientific purposes.

This post is not an argument for or against the controversial killing of living things, but rather a proposal for action that removes the necessity for struggle and the squandering of life in pursuit of personal gain.

People who oppose these slaughters are many and vocal. Protesters stand outside Japanese embassies and around the area where the dolphins are killed in Taiji. Some post appeals in various places against the killing.

This post is not an argument for or against the controversial killing of living things, but an examination of the irrational arguments on both sides. Those who would prevent harm coming to dolphins and whales argue that the animals posses significant intelligence and emotional faculties. Those who support the killing, actively or passively, posses a variety of beliefs, completely unexamined and irrational.

The opposition makes appeals to the general public to stop the killing, hoping that, 1.) they will put some kind of pressure on politicians, 2.) will send financial support to groups who may be able to exert political pressure or monkey wrench hunts, 3.) will influence buying habits of sympathetic people, becoming an economic force that can sway businesses to exert some kind of political pressure to stop the practices.

Each of these options rely, in the end, on some kind of political action. 1.) and 3.) directly imply some kind of political action, and 3.) necessitates political action in that government will be asked to reimburse losses to businesses as a result of direct action, increasing the tax burden on the population.

These actions will be totally ineffectual without significant comprehensive change, as governments care not a whit about their populations in general (I offer the example of the Fukushima nuclear power plants as an example) much less sea creatures. Their task is to protect their existence by maintaining the status quo through violence if necessary.

I see a parallel between this issue and the annual slaughter of baby harp seals in Canada. The struggle to end this harvest, largest slaughter of marine mammals in the world, has continued since I became aware of environmental issues in the 1970's.

Governments and those who support whaling and dolphin harvests argue that Japanese people have always eaten whale/dolphin meat and that since it is a traditional food source, then it is appropriate for them to continue the hunts.

This argument is a red herring. There is no relationship to animals traditionally eaten or banned. In A.D. 675, Emperor Temmu prohibited people from eating the meat of horses, monkeys, dogs, chickens and cows. I assume that since the ruler prohibited people from eating them that it must have been a practice at the time to consume these animals for food.

I have never heard a Japanese person say that they have eaten dog, nor have I seen a place where dog meat was on sale, though people who travel abroad may consume dog meat in other countries where eating do is not taboo. The hunting of monkeys in Japan is strictly forbidden, even though they do serious damage to crops and periodically attack humans. I do not believe they eat them. However, Japanese people regularly eat all of the other animals, both raw and cooked. Eating habits can change instantly or slowly over time. "Tradition" excuses nothing.

I would prefer to see this needless suffering end, and so I propose two solutions, but this will require some difficult changes. First, I propose that the struggle to stop/ban/prohibit the hunting and killing of dolphins should end. It is not metaphysically useful to continue expending energy that reinforces an undesirable situation.

It was Neville Goddard, a New Thought lecturer of the mid 20th century, who recommended that we “assume the feeling of the wish fulfilled” if we want our dreams to become real. Feeling good is feeling God—our good feelings align us with Spirit.

— Dr. Wayne Dyer

"To offer no resistance to life is to be in a state of grace, ease, and lightness. This state is then no longer dependent upon things being in a certain way, good or bad. It seems almost paradoxical, yet when your inner dependency on form is gone, the general conditions of your life, the outer forms, tend to improve greatly. Things, people, or conditions that you thought you needed for your happiness now come to you with no struggle or effort on your part, and you are free to enjoy and appreciate them - while they last. All those things, of course, will still pass away, cycles will come and go, but with dependency gone there is no fear of loss anymore. Life flows with ease."

— Eckhart Tolle

My second proposal is to stop consuming. Stop consuming as much as possible. This grotesque squandering of life is all connected with the desire to posses things at the expense of others and our earth. If you are reading this, you have access to the Internet, which makes you one of the 3-5% of the world's population who does. You can do with less. I can do with less.

dolphin photo provided by http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/148624

Eat Right, Learn Right

2011-07-30T11:44:00.001+09:00

You want to learn better? Then eat right!

The verdict is in. What we put into our bodies affects all of our physical and intellectual selves.

Eat
1. Whole foods: Whole grains lead to better memory power.
2. Fruit and vegetables: Fruit and vegetables can improve your memory.
3. With others: Eating with others has a raft of physical and emotional benefits.

Don't eat
1. Refined sugar: Talk about something that will harm your ability to remember stuff...
2. Too much: Obesity impairs people's ability to think.

Posted via email from Daniel's posterous

Startled Awake: tanka

2011-07-12T15:09:00.001+09:00

Startled wide awake
Chickens crowing their praise to morning
Each day waking thus
Though each time is different
Birth into a brand new world

Public speaking: Comparison speech preparation with "would you rather..." gambits

2011-05-25T15:44:00.000+09:00

In today's seminar class, this semester's theme being public speaking, we began a new section on comparison speeches. The goal is for everyone to make a speech comparing two things that are important to him or her.

Since today's class was a preparation class, we did impromptu speeches on topics that began with the question, "Would you rather..." I translated a list of these gambits that are listed here into English and used them with some modifications to make them applicable to my students. For example, "Would you rather have a one-year supply of chocolate or a lifetime supply of potatoes," I changed potatoes to rice.

The students enjoyed it, and are now ready to prepare topics for comparison.

When Less Might Be More: Improptu vs. Planned Conversation

2011-05-24T15:15:00.000+09:00

Recorded student conversations today. They had been working on conversations for several weeks, and they have finally put themselves in front of a video camera and spoken to each other.

The objectives were to :
1.) build student confidence in their ability to speak English;
2.) activate vocabulary and grammar ability so that students can speak about themselves, their interests and those of one other;
3.) encourage collaborative language learning.

The suggested theme was, "Tell me about yourself." Students were asked to choose a partner. The teachers gave them a suggested pattern for the conversation: (Greeting, Small talk, Topics, Farewell), gambits for initiating a conversation (for example offering your name and then a statement about the state of your current condition, and leave taking strategies.

After the pair was finished with their conversation, they had an interview with the teacher, where they were asked to share information about their experience with the recording, ideas about the class in general, and then to talk about their English Log 2.0's.

The exit inverviews were all very similar, with most students saying that they were nervous. A few said that they enjoyed it.

My conclusion after this experience, though, is that rather than prepare for this kind of event for some weeks, the objectives stated above may be better achieved by providing less time for perparation and more time in conversation.

In the next cycle, I will provide less time for preparation, and focus their attention more on communicating.

Advanced English Class: A Better Way curriculum

2011-05-17T11:06:00.000+09:00

My first experience with a class of near-native English speakers was about 24 years ago. It was similar to the group that I have now, a group of professionals who use English for their work, who want a place to exercise their linguistic muscles, but who want to do little else with it in terms of serious development.

The question I ask week after week is, "What do I do," and "What do they want"? I am little better off in answering either of those questions now than I was 24 years ago.

Then last week there was a problem. One of the participants became frustrated with one of the others' pedantic questions and comments and blew up at him. It didn't come to blows, but it emphasized to me that everyone is there for slightly different reasons, and that not all of their needs are being met.

This is a group class, so I am now struggling to find a way to insure that all of their needs are met. My overall conclusion is that they should have more autonomy than they do now to choose and discuss topics that are of interest to them.

These are how I plan to structure future classes, starting tonight.

I will give them the task of deciding what topics are covered for the 6-week period. (I have done that in previous sessions, but with limited success, mostly because the proposed topics did not include learning-specific options. For example I gave them lists that included topics such as music or food, but which did not include options such as TOEIC preparation, or learning strategies.)
I will include learning-specific options in the list, including TOEIC preparation, learning strategies, public speaking, and Internet options for learning.
Finally I plan to give them their own time for asking questions to me or other learners about the topic at hand. Depending on the number of students, I could imagine giving each learner 5 minutes to ask, comment on, or just express themselves on topics that interest them.

Advanced learners attend classes for a variety of reasons, and the teacher's role in these settings is to provide the space for each one to express her/his needs and fulfill them for him/herself.

Social Contribution Ads on Japanese Television

2011-03-27T10:52:00.000+09:00

After the earthquake and tsunami in northeast Japan, television has focused a good deal of time on the events in the areas damaged in the event and the Fukushima nuclear power plants that have been leaking radioactive material.

There has also been an obvious increase in the number of public service announcements from the Japan Advertising Council. This agency was started in 1971, during the economic boom in Japan, by Keizo Saji, the then president of Suntory, a beverage (alcohol and soft drinks) manufacturer.

These spots focus on manners, child rearing, and other topics that contribute to society.

The reason that there are so many of these commercials now is because it would be inappropriate to show other commercials that promote the consumption of goods that are unavailable to so many people as a result of the natural disasters.

The Metephysical Laws of Learning: Introduction

2011-03-06T09:40:00.001+09:00

Talk of schools, educational philosophies, plans and policies proliferate. Learners move through school systems as if by Brownian motion. Teachers, their education, careers, and methods equally reflect some kind of stochastic process.

What can be proven to be useful for all learners over time? What are universals that anyone, learner or teacher, can employ to improve their fulfillment?

This could be just another airy-fairy rant, but I will try to make it as practical and empirically grounded as possible, it's just that in my teaching and learning experiences, I have found few tools that any person could employ universally to improve their learning. There are too many variables, and while dedicated professionals create more, adapting tools at their disposal, none of them will work for everyone.

One example of that is something I learned about just today came in a tweet by @oksan_ocakturk. She mentioned two online tools that have great potential for learners, MailVu and Vocaroo. She found a great presentation on the tools by Russell Stannard. MailVu is a service where people can create and send video messages by email. Mr. Stannard suggests that students can use this to send presentations to their teachers. Mr. Stannard suggests similar activities with Vocaroo, but without the video element.

Those are terrific services and have applications for a huge variety of learning. I would like to use these for my classes, but will probably opt for lower tech solutions, because...
1.) nearly all of my students use cell phones extensively, but I'm not sure that they have access to computers for using these sites. The university has computers for their use, but they would have no privacy, and would not feel comfortable making English presentations on those machines.
2.) if they made presentations and sent them to me, there may be privacy issues, such as they may include their private email addresses. I do not want that kind of information.
3.) it would be nearly impossible to use school computers during English class time; classrooms do not have Internet connectivity, and it would be easier to set up a video camera in the corner of the room for students to use for making presentations.

So what tools are available and useful for any learner or teacher anywhere? My conclusion is that familiarity with and employment of Hermetic Principles will empower people in any learning situation. I will outline the 7 Hermetic Principles here, and discuss each one in turn in posts that follow.

"The Principles of Truth are Seven; he who knows these,
understandingly, possesses the Magic Key before whose
touch all the Doors of the Temple fly open."--The Kybalion.

The 7 Hermetic Principles as described in The Kybalion are
1. The Principle of Mentalism.
    2. The Principle of Correspondence.
    3. The Principle of Vibration.
    4. The Principle of Polarity.
    5. The Principle of Rhythm.
    6. The Principle of Cause and Effect.
    7. The Principle of Gender.

The Kybalion was first published in 1908 by three anonymous writers, and is now in the public domain. The writers report that the content is based on ancient Hermeticism.

High court sides with Tokyo on anthem | The Japan Times Online

2011-01-30T15:33:00.000+09:00

Another example of Japanese courts coming down on the side of the government when it is clear that elected officials have infringed on someone's human rights.

It is unclear whether this applies to public and private schools, but my guess is that it would be difficult to enforce at private schools.

"The Tokyo Metropolitan Government and board of education did not violate the Constitution by requiring school teachers and other staff to stand when the Hinomaru flag is raised and the national anthem sung during school events."

High court sides with Tokyo on anthem | The Japan Times Online

Kelley Williams-Bolar: Jailed for Sending Kids to "White" School District

2011-01-29T10:55:00.000+09:00

Education Roundup: More Segregation, Science Fails, and the State of the Union

Ohio Case: The 'Rosa Parks Moment' For Education?

by Jeff St. Clair

How words get the message across : Nature News

2011-01-27T16:37:00.000+09:00

This article uses results from a variety of research on words and language to point out that longer words carry more meaning, with some caveats. It also shows how language changes in order to make language more useful and efficient over time.

How words get the message across : Nature News: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Technorati blog claim post

2011-01-19T15:32:00.001+09:00

Going through the process of claiming this blog on Technorati. Interesting process.

DBDZGHS2VNYN

Report Shows College Students Learn Little During First Two Years-- Misplaced Criticism

2011-01-19T13:55:00.001+09:00

"Nearly half of the nation's undergraduates show almost no gains in learning in their first two years of college, in large part because colleges don't make academics a priority."

This article, also published in USA Today, takes the tiresome tack that young people play too much and teachers spend too much time on self-indulgent activities to do what they should be doing, "learning," as defined by another standardized test.

Students enter university after 12 years of government school, and if they are really lucky they have parents who have helped them and encouraged them to follow their passion, a real desire to learn and achieve in their chosen field, and a direction chosen for when they graduate.

The unlucky ones have been drugged into a stupor throughout their 12 years in government schools because they appeared to be fit targets for a new psychoactive drug that would pacify them. They were counseled by buffoons into believing that trying hard won't get them into the school of their choice, and/or they were told that their passion wasn't going to get them a good job, and if they didn't study X, they would be street sweepers.

Institutions profit from the advertising of non-academic activities, and students receive reduced prices on travel and entertainment opportunities made available on and off campus.

Entertainment establishments developed near college campuses were established to capitalize on students, and many would soon go out of business if students turned to monkish study habits, nothing any chamber of commerce wants.

But when election time comes, those people that profit from the campuses turn around and vote for legislators who promise to cut education funding or regulations that have the same effect.

Funding for all education is being cut everywhere, making teachers focus more of their energies on earning grants to fund their departments. How are grants earned? Through research. Even though the investment returns on education are significant according to a Joint Economic Committee Study in January, 2000, "Investment in Education: Private and Public Returns," public funding is being reduced dramatically.

There is a strong consensus among economists that formal education is an important determinant of individual earnings as well as economic growth. The importance of formal education has been magnified by recent economic trends underlying U.S. labor market demand for skilled workers. The following is a review of the importance of education to both the individuals acquiring education and of the benefits received by society resulting from increased educational attainment.

That means that college teachers are fighting for the very existence of their institutions through their research efforts.

My suggestion to people who think colleges are on the wrong track is to quit watching college sports and drinking beer on the weekends and start thinking how you can help out a struggling student or offer your skills in helping out at a local college or university.
$80,000 For Beer Pong? Report Shows College Students Learn Little During... - StumbleUpon: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Japan's Center Exam: What does it really test?

2011-01-18T12:02:00.000+09:00

At 9:30, as determined by clocks synchronized by satellite, 558,984 test takers all over Japan opened their test booklets and began to read their Civics exam, their first subject of the 2011 unified entrance tests sponsored by the National Center for University Entrance Examinations.

These exams are given only once each year and are a testimony to the logistical precision and social conformity that Japan is famous for. But what else, what non-academic features, are tested?

Students who are competing for places at universities around the country start to arrive at their assigned exam centers at around 8:30. There are 828 participating two and four-year colleges taking part this year. Each room and seat is numbered, and registered students each receive an identity card with their numbers on them.

Proctors read from scripts provided by the National Center for University Entrance Examinations, and manage the classrooms where the exams are given. they read instructions and cautionary marks, distribute and collect test booklets and answer sheets, maintain environmental controls like light and heat, and attend to problems that may arise.

In 2006 the National Center for University Entrance Examinations instituted a listening exam for the EFL exam. This required the organization to develop a delivery system that was fair, effective, and affordable. They decided on individual electronic, digital audio players with headphones, something like a very low tech i=Pod with the audio portion recorded on IC data cards.

During this section of the exam, students receive the test booklet, answer sheet, and their audio player. This year the students were given written instructions on operating heir players in addition to audio instructions which were prerecorded on their data cards.

But what is the test actually evaluating? Does it test a student's knowledge of the disciplines ostensibly being tested? For example, does a History test assess a student's knowledge of History? The Education Ministry censors all textbooks used in Japan. History texts are written and prepared by publisher and writers, and then vetted through the Ministry. The exams may be returned to an author for revision, or rejected outright. The Center Exam reflects this scrutiny, and so is a test of discrete facts students are to have learned in 12 years of Ministry schools.

The test is also an examination of financial liquidity. The exam itself costs ¥12,000 if they are taking two or fewer subjects. For those taking three or more subjects, the fee is ¥18,000. It costs money for transportation to the test site. Many parents send their children to cram schools to prepare for this test. In Japan high schools cost money, because secondary education is not mandatory, so someone, usually parents, must pay for high school education. This is an exceptional burden, because those young people rely on their caregivers for support when they could be supporting themselves.

It is a personal management test. The test must be registered and paid for in a timely fashion. Students must arrange transportation to and from the test center in of the most climatically challenging months of the year. Snowfall in January is the greatest, causing transportation delays and accidents every year.

Students must maintain their physical and mental conditions. January is the coldest month of the year, insuring that colds and flu are common. The exam is only offered once a year, so maintaining a healthy body at test time could mean the difference between the college of one's choice and a less desirable outcome.

It's a test of emotional well being. The pressure is on. This day is the product of 12 years of government education. In from one test, lasting 60 minutes, to ten tests totaling 11 hours over two days, students pour out the contents of their academic minds to create patterns of black dot on computer-graded answer sheets that will determine their academic future and thus the directions of their lives. For some the pressure is too great.

Finally, it is a test of their unquestioning faith in the state, the education system, the economic system, their parents, teachers, technology, social infrastructure and never, never in themselves, because in Japan personal achievement never is. It is always someone else's doing. Success is never their doing, but failure always is. If these students measure up to someone else's standards over the weekend, it is because of the hard work of others. If they fail, they alone shoulder the burden. Everybody else did their best.

Over those two days hundreds of thousands of young people will gather at test centers around the country in order to show what 12 years, 10488 hours ( my estimate based on UNESCO statics), of government schools has taught them. The content of the academic portion of the evaluated test, however, has little do do with what is actually being evaluated.

Keio Univ. to stop using standardized entrance exam : National : DAILY YOMIURI ONLINE (The Daily Yomiuri)

2011-01-18T10:46:00.000+09:00

I would love to have been a fly on the wall when they decided to stop using this exam at Keio.

However, from the 2006 academic year, Keio stopped using the English exam portion of the center test for its medical department, and the same test will be abolished for the other two departments from the next academic year, which will leave Keio free from any part of the National Center Test.

This is the reason that a cram school teacher gave.

A member of a cram school staff said, "The National Center Test only reveals slight differences in abilities among examinees who apply for top-notch universities."

If this is true, then my guess is that a similar phenomena occurs at the lower end of the scale, too. If a test taker marked the same answer for each question in the test, it is likely that the student would get somewhere around a 25%. (There a three questions with more than six possible answers in this year's test. The rest had four.) The closer a test taker comes to making a perfect score or a 25%, the less discriminative value it would have.

Keio Univ. to stop using standardized entrance exam : National : DAILY YOMIURI ONLINE (The Daily Yomiuri): "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Most favor making English study mandatory for 5th, 6th graders: poll › Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion

2011-01-04T10:45:00.000+09:00

According to this article from Japan Today, 87% of the respondents to a questionnaire favored a new government policy to make learning English mandatory of 5th and 6th grade students beginning next year.

When responding about why they responded in favor, 55% said that it would help children get jobs.

The Education Ministry themselves list their goals as, "'Foreign Language' will be a required subject at lower and upper secondary schools, and in principle, English will be the one at lower secondary school. In order for students to develop practical communicative competence in the target language..." http://www.mext.go.jp/english/news/1998/07/980712.htm

There is no definition of practical communicative competence or how success will be measured, and it certainly says nothing about jobs.

My question is, jobs where? And if everyone is taking the same classes, doesn't that mean that the pool of workers is going to be generally the same, making it a similar situation to the present?

Of those in favor "corporate managers" were the highest proportion, 95%. My guess is that either they see that there are business opportunities outside of the country, so they want their employees to have foreign language skills, or they see that Japan itself will become more ethnically diverse and wish to have workers that can communicate in a common language.

These results show that in general, people are unable to think objectively about education and ask critical questions about the institution.

Most favor making English study mandatory for 5th, 6th graders: poll › Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Eide Neurolearning Blog: Curiosity and the Creative Drive

2011-01-03T13:05:00.000+09:00

When I first saw this posting, I thought, "In how many ways does production line education destroy this"? But I reframed it into a positive question, "Is there a way that production line education can encourage this"? My opinion is that it cannot, and that if curiosity and creative drive are to be discovered at all, it will have to be done outside of a school environment.

Eide Neurolearning Blog: Curiosity and the Creative Drive: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Psychologist Shows How The Accent Shapes Our Perception Of A Person

2011-01-03T12:56:00.000+09:00

Saw this article, and thought, I don't help my students at all with pronunciation. This makes me wonder if I should help them change their pronunciations, or to just help them become aware of this issue. I'll probably do the latter.

Psychologist Shows How The Accent Shapes Our Perception Of A Person: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Presentation software: three suggestions

2010-12-13T16:08:00.000+09:00

I attended the Second Japan, China, Korea Nursing Conference that was held in Tokyo, Japan on November 20th and 21st. I had a post session and saw several presentation. (Yes, I know. I'm not a nurse, but helped translate few of the Japanese presentations into English. I was listed as a co-author.)

All of the oral presentations used presentation software, and all were uniformly badly done. This is what I learned from this experience, the way to give a presentation with presentation software (if you must).

1. Use more images and fewer words

Even though there were people of various nationalities and linguistic backgrounds, nearly all of the slides were covered in some kind of written words. Too much time spent reading, even when I could read the letters.

2. Set the screen well behind the speaker

In order that all of the attendees could see the slides projected on the screen, the room was darkened. That meant that only the scree was visible in the dark room. The presenter was hidden behind a podium on one corner of the stage, their faces bathed in a ghostly light provided so that they could read from their prepared scripts. This meant that the light reflected off of the material that the presenter on the podium and hit them at an angle that reminded me of people holding flashlights under their chins to illuminate their faces in a scary way. The presenter was a weirdly-lit and insignificant figure at the edge of the stage, their presence totally overwhelmed by the projected words center-stage.

3. Place the speaker center stage

The speaker should be the focus of the audience's attention. The rest is window dressing, and the slides referential instead of seminal.

Education Ministry Blames teachers and students for bullying

2010-11-26T10:47:00.000+09:00

In an effort to deflect blame for bullying and resulting suicides, Japan's Education Ministry is blaming inadequately trained teachers and psychologically imbalanced children.

"...the government is considering instituting a training program for teachers to address the problem."

"...schools have begun psychological testing to examine children's mental states so classroom problems can be detected as early as possible."

The only real solution of the problems lies in the elimination of the violent government education system.

Group solution eyed for bullying / Hopes rest on teacher training, psychological tests for children : National : DAILY YOMIURI ONLINE (The Daily Yomiuri): "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Black Melon Bread

2010-11-25T16:06:00.000+09:00

Does this make anyone else slightly uncomfortable? This is so often Japan. They talk a good game, but are clueless when it comes to the real deal

This is a product I picked up at the local convenience store this morning. It is made by the Yamazaki bread company. This is a rough translation of the wrapper.

(from the upper... left) Big Comic Spirits (comic book publisher)
Sasurai Afro Tanaka (the name of a comic series. sasurai means "walking around")
Black Melon Bread
Black melon cake like an Afro, melon bread with chocolate cream.

(line attributed to character) "I don't feel uncomfortable...mmm..."

expiration date: 2010/11/26

Typhoon Chaba Wreaks No Damage, and Leaves Behind Lifegiving Water

2010-10-30T11:41:00.000+09:00

Komono, Japan, October 30, 2010

Typhoon Chaba passed east of Komono, Japan, leaving no damage in its wake, and leaving much-needed moisture in the Komono area.

When asked how he felt about the storm, Komono resident and father of three wonderful children Dan Kirk said, "Great! We got some rain out of it. The news services damaged their reputation as reliable sources of information again by exaggerating the threat in order to drum up viewership. Would you like a cookie?"

In general local residents were happy that darn near everything planned was called off and they could stay home and relax.

Outbreaks of Pleasantries in Japan: Convenience Store Clerk Adjusts Legal Alien's Collar

2010-10-29T10:19:00.000+09:00

(I'm so sick of corporate media bad news that I can't relate to at all. I'm going to print some good news.)

Komono, Japan

At 08:14 on Thursday, October 28, a clerk at a convenience store (Ministop) in Komono, Japan, reached across the counter and asked the customer, Daniel T. Kirk, legal alien, if she could adjust his collar.

The clerk adjusted his collar, and Kirk thanked the clerk in flawless Japanese.

"I thought that was really nice," said Kirk. "I was on my way to make a presentation in Kuwana, and wanted to look nice. She was really helpful. I'll go back to... that store again, maybe with some cookies for the clerk."

Criticisms of scaffolding and remembering of names in the Classroom

2010-05-16T10:06:00.000+09:00

As an open minded teacher I leave the door wide open for criticisms of my teaching methods. I listen in and out of class to students and their opinions, and I make liberal use of course evaluations. In the last two weeks I have had two criticisms of my teaching, both from the same person. I have stewed on them since I heard them, wondering if they were legitimate concerns, if I should change my classes, and if so, how.

The student who made these criticisms is in one of my Community College classes. Her first suggestion was that I use less Japanese. (The tone of her suggestion was actually stronger than a suggestion.) She is new to the program, and in my class description I explain that this class is for people who want to learn English but are struggling. I have used both English and Japanese, hoping to employ just the right amount of scaffolding for the majority of students. Their levels vary, so I try to vary my level of scaffolding from student to student in individual interactions.

Conclusion: I will not change my policy, as the people who have been enrolled in this class have attended faithfully for years now, and are making progress in their individual ways.

The second criticism was that I tend not to remember names. Her suggestion being that Japanese names were probably difficult for me to remember. I have met this person three times since April. She has attended around half of the classes so far, and in addition to the new names in this class, I have the names of around 150 new students, who attend far more regularly, from three different countries.

Conclusion: I am right on track with remembering names, and the nationality of the student is not an issue.

New Approach for Teaching Advanced EFL Learners

2010-04-12T16:11:00.000+09:00

Over the last six-week session in my Advanced Topics class at the Yokkaichi University Community College, I used videos that I found online as a jumping off point for class discussions. I would ask learners to watch a speech that I had found that covered a topic that I thought would be interesting for my students, and then made a class activity around it.

They found that the videos were too difficult to understand, and took too much time outside of class to prepare, so I changed my approach this time. I asked them to give me some ideas for topics that they would like to discuss, and I would make build some activities around them. They chose Food and Health, Energy, Travel, Population: The future of Japan, and Superstitions and Folk Beliefs.

My approach for class is to take each one of these topics and make a list of questions around each one. Then at the beginning of class, I will ask them to choose one of the questions that interests them and ask three other class members, recording their answers on a 3X5 card. Then, when all of them have talked to three people, I will ask each of them to discuss the responses they got with the rest of the class.

My goal with this approach is to ensure that each person gets talking time and at the same time provide adequate time for discussion as a group.

A description of the results will come at the end of the session.

52 Weeks-- Getting to know you

2010-04-11T18:10:00.001+09:00

52 Weeks-- Getting to know you

Goals
a. present language about getting to know people
b. present conversation pattern, GSTTF
c. conversation prompts so that students can exchange information
d. offer extra material available on the Internet

Pre-listening questions.

a. What do these two people do?
b. Where did they first see each other?
c. Did the conversation go well?

Atsuko: Hi. My name's Atsuko. We're in the same English class.
Eri: Oh, yeah. You usually sit in the second row. My name's Eri. What do you think of the class?
Atsuko: It's pretty good. It's the only one that fit my schedule. What do you think?
Eri: Yeah, it's pretty good, but I took it for a core credit.
Atsuko: What's your major? I mean, why are you taking this class?
Eri: I'm a Nursing major, and I live about an hour away from here, so I don't want to take an early class. I have a part time job in the evening, so I don't want to take one that was too late, either.
Atsuko: Where do you work?
Eri: At a grocery store. I'm a cashier. How about you?
Atsuko: I'm a Biology major, and I'm taking it as a core credit, too. I have another class today, so this time worked out for me.
Eri: What year are you?
Atsuko: I'm a Sophomore. How about you?
Eri: Me, too. Hey, I was just going to get some lunch. Did you eat yet?
Atsuko: No. Can I go with you? I'd like to hear more about your job.
Eri: Of course. Let's go?

What do you think...
This phrase is used for asking about someone's opinion on a specific topic?
Here are some possible answers. I love it. I like it. It's great. It's ok. I don't like it. I hate it.
Ask you partner about these topics:
the weather    today's classes    football    English    Math

Remember plurals are a little different!
What do you think about television games? I don't like them.

What's your major?
This is what you ask when you want to know what a college student is majoring in.
What's your major? I'm in _____________. or I'm a ___________ major.
Ask your partner about his/her major.

How about you?
This is called Answer +. You are asked a question, and you want to ask the same question to him/her. Instead of asking the whole thing again, you can add this after your answer.
Ask your partner questions about these themes, and then have him/her add Answer + to his/her answer.
Where you were born.
Where you live.
What kind of music you like.
What kind of food you like.
What kind of movie you like.

I'd like to...
This is a way to express what you want to do. It sounds a little more formal than "I want to..."
Ask your partner what he/she would like to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?
(What would you like to eat for breakfast?)

Additional listening on the Internet
Game in class    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLJAWjrG6N0
Julie Andrews singing "Getting to Know You" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaBNZMsjEoI

52 Weeks-- Getting to Know You

by Dan Kirk Twitter: @yokkaichi1

Tuesday Night Beginners: Food Activity

2010-02-23T14:59:00.000+09:00

Tonight's class, both the beginners and advanced is going to be about food. The beginners will be doing an activity that they actually started last week, that you can see by following this link. FOOD ACTIVITY

I am working on making one activity per week for 52 weeks of the year for this class. I'll post them all on here and then comment on how they worked when I try them out myself.

I started making these activities, because I was just tired of being with the same group of people every week (these are really dedicated students), and I had done enough textbook stuff with them.

High Beginner to Low Intermediate Activity: Home

2010-02-19T18:20:00.001+09:00

Just made a new activity public for teachers of high beginner to low intermediate learners to learn about homes.

My objective is to encourage learners to talk about homes and to generate their own vocabulary and grammar based on their language needs. I expect each person's needs will be different, so they can generate language to explain their own home, and to listen to others about theirs. This activity also assumes learners will be in Japan, but a teacher can easily overlook that feature.

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AWfQLUgmm2dyZGRqcndyNGdfMjM5NnBnOTZoaw&hl=en

experience knowledge imagination illust

2010-02-12T12:24:00.002+09:00

This is a diagram that I came up with after a conversation with two different groups of people. The first group was my class of advanced English learners on Tuesday night. We were discussing how children are losing interest in science. One of the learners is also a high school science teacher, and he suggested that without knowledge, children cannot be imaginative. I suggested that without experience and knowledge, children cannot be imaginative.

The second group I spoke to was a group of people who were suggesting that I enroll my son in their private school. They were suggesting that public schools are inappropriate places for children to learn in. I replied that with the proper environment, with appropriate levels of experience and knowledge, children can be imaginative. The problem with formal education of late is that there is too great a focus on knowledge, because it's easy to quantify through testing. Bureaucracies like that, because then children can easily be slotted for easy management. Then they wonder why children lack imagination.

I do not rely on schools to educate my children. In fact, though schooling is mandatory, I am entirely responsible for my children's educational experience. School is just part of it. Their lives at home are far more important than their school life, and ensuring that they get plenty of experience, by playing with their friends, helping out on the farm, spending time abroad with their extended family, and expressing themselves in various media, I can make sure that their imaginations are healthy and active.

My students have the same needs, too, though I cannot ensure that they get what they need at home. Part of my task then is to make sure that part of their experience in my classes is experiential, so that their imaginations are stimulated.

Richard Dawkins on our "queer" universe, Advanced ESL Activity

2010-02-09T16:58:00.000+09:00

This is a list of questions for an advanced ESL Activity linked with Richard Dawkins TED talk on "Our 'queer' universe." I'll use this tonight in class and report on the class afterward.

http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_dawkins_on_our_queer_universe.html

1. Did you like science at school?
2. Did you like this talk?
3. What is evolution?
4. What do you think culture has to do with evolution?
5. Think of an experience when you were a child. How is that person different than the person that sits in your chair?
6. What kind of science is interesting to you?
7. Why are children losing interest in science?
8. What can we do to make it more interesting?

Advanced ESL class questions for J.K. Rowling: The Fringe Benefits of Failure

2010-02-02T15:39:00.000+09:00

J.K. Rowling: The Fringe Benefits of Failure
http://harvardmagazine.com/commencement/the-fringe-benefits-failure-the-importance-imagination

commencement speech
stripping away the inessential
set free
failure inevitable
failure by default
value of imagination
Amnesty International
empathy vs. apath

Graduation

1. Can you remember your graduation day? Who spoke?
2. What were some things on your mind then? Do you remember?
3. How were some of these things realized or unrealized?
4. Do you still keep in contact with some of those friends?
5. Have you experienced anything you would classify as a failure?
6. How did that failure change your life?
7. Is failure inevitable?
8. What is the value of imagination? (morally neutral)

J Pop History, Past Tense Activity

2010-01-21T16:06:00.001+09:00

J pop history

Ask your partner about these bands, achievements, and dates.
You can ask, "When did __________ make the song diamonds in 1989?" You can also ask about the achievement or the year.

Band name                Achievement                                              year
Globe                        Globe                                                          1996
Glay                          Review- The Best of Glay                             1997
B'z                            B'z The Best "Pleasure"                                1998
Hikaru Utada              First Love                                                   1999
Ayumi Hamasaki        Grand Prix awards                                         2001, 02, 03
Hikaru Utada               10 mil downloads                                      2007

J Pop History
Ask your partner about these bands, achievements, and dates.
You can ask, "When did __________ make the song diamonds in 1989?" You can also ask about the achievement or the year.

Band Name                Achievement                                                    Year
Thelma Aoyama        Soba ni Iru ne(8.2 mil downloads)                     2008
Greeeen                    Kiseki (6.2 mil downloads)                               2008
Chemistry                    The Way We Are                                           2001
Orange Range            musiQ                                                          2005
Exile                            Exile Love                                                   2008
Dohzi-T                        12 Love Stories                                            2008

Posted via email from Daniel's posterous

J Pop History, Past Tense Activity

2010-01-21T16:05:00.001+09:00

I used this activity with my first year nursing students today. We were talking about the past, and I wanted to practice making questions with this kind of information.

1. Asked students to make pairs.
2. Gave one student in each pair an A form, and the other student the B form
3. Practiced making questions as a class with each bit of information.
ex. Thelma Aoyama Soba ni Iru ne(8.2 mil downloads) 2008
Who sang Soba ni Iru ne in 2008?
What did Thelma Aoyama sing in 2008?
When did Thelma Aoyama sing Soba ni Iru ne?
4. Ask questions about the singers songs and dates on their paper to their partners.

This activity was pretty difficult, not because of the language, but because of the content. They are quite knowledgeable about music that they are fond of, they know little about other singers, and almost nothing about singers that were active before 2002. They enjoyed talking about the music, though.

Posted via email from Daniel's posterous

A non-Luddite, Tao Approach to Technology Integration

2010-01-17T10:05:00.001+09:00

Doug Belshaw, in his post A non-Luddite rebuttal of technology integration?, used a quote of Chuang Tzu as a way of approaching the question of technology integration. It is an argument that I have been playing with for several days now, and have come to some conclusions about it for myself.

Technology is a tool or a collection of tools. I would no more dismiss the use of technology any more than I would the use of a hammer. Both are of equal value, but I think some teachers give technology greater value simply because it is new and appeals to them in some way.

First, here is a version of the story, slightly different from the one that Doug used.

Purity of Heart

When Tzu Kung went south to the Ch'u State on his way back to the Chin State, he passed through Han-yin. There he saw an old man engaged in making a ditch to connect his vegetable garden with a well. He had a pitcher in his hand, with which he was bringing up water and pouring it into the ditch, great labour with very little result. "If you had a machine here," cried Tzu Kung, "in a day you could irrigate a hundred times your present area. The labour required is trifling as compared with the work done. Would you like to have one?" "What is it?" asked the gardener. "It is a contrivance made of wood," replied Tzu Kung, "Heavy behind and light in front. It draws up water as you do with your hands but in a constantly flowing stream. It is called a well sweep." Thereupon the gardener flushed up and said, " I have heard from my teacher that those who have cunning implements are cunning in their dealings and that those who are cunning in their dealings have cunning in their hearts, and that those who have cunning in their hearts cannot be pure and incorrupt, and that those who are not pure and incorrupt are restless in spirit and not fit vehicles for TAO. It is not that I do not know of these things. I should be ashamed to use them."

Chuang Tzu
Chap 12

I would argue that the old man was using a "cunning implement" himself to move the water into the ditch, a pitcher. It is a tool, and the leap from the vessel he held in his had to the well sweep isn't that great. There will be some differences. He may not have to stand in the water. He may not get his hands wet. He may not have to use as many calories in moving the water with the well sweep. It isn't nearly as huge a leap from the pitcher to the sweep as it would be from the well sweep to center-pivot irrigation.

It also isn't that I don't understand what the old man is saying. By using technology, we make a trade off. We sell something to get something. The further the old man gets from standing in the water, irrigating with a pitcher, and the closer he gets to center-pivot irrigation, the further he gets from his land as a living, interdependent whole. The closer he gets to the huge disconnect we have now between the food that we eat and the environment that provides it. Not much Tao in that.

I use Twitter. I have a blog. I have email. And as much as that brings me into contact with people that I would have otherwise never have met because we are continents away or because our paths simply would not have crossed, my life is enriched. It's difficult to express how fulfilling it is to make contact with people like that. But I do not use this same technology with the students that I meet every week, because we can have a different kind of interaction.

My class and I use English Log 2.0 to communicate and express ourselves with each other, and it is a tool that no computer can match now. We write about what is happening in our lives. We draw pictures of things that inspire us. We keep lists of stuff we are learning. We send each other candies or origami taped in the pages of our notebooks. We tape pretty leaves and flowers that we find on our way to school.

If another teacher were to pass through our class and suggest, "Hey, you know, you could do that on the Internet," I would reply, "It is not that I do not know of these things, but I would be foolish to use them."

Posted via email from Daniel's posterous

フラシュ　カードを使いましょう！

2010-01-07T14:38:00.001+09:00

フラシュ　カードを使いましょう！

Hint: 短い勉強時間で、間を入れる事が大事だ。

どの言葉を覚えたら良いかが分かるから、初めてもいいんですが、どうやって進んだら良いでしょう？効率のいい勉強の仕方は何でしょう？

まずはカードを使う事。単語ノートより効率のいい方法です。ノートに書くと順番が変えない。覚えやすい物と憎い物も同じレベルになります。カートを使うとその問題がないです。

”Leitner System”　を使うと面白く覚える事ができます。そのシステムがこれです。自分のカードと五つの箱を準備して下さい。カードの片面に覚えたい英語の言葉を書く。反対側に意味と例文を書く。

１。全てのカードが箱１に始まる。そのカードを覚えると箱２に入れる。２が３、３が４、４が５。ただその間に一度でも忘れたらそのカードが１に戻る。
２。覚える時間も大事になります。箱２に入っているカードを一日開けて、また覚える事。箱3に入っているカードが３日を開けて、また見る。箱４が１週間、で箱５までは１ヶ月を開けて見る事です。各局一つの単語が４１日間がかかります。

一度でも忘れると、また箱１に戻す事！

楽しくやろう！

Posted via email from Daniel's posterous

January 6 Japanese headlines in English

2010-01-06T12:33:00.001+09:00

Today's NHK Japanese news headlines in English
1. Crane falls over sideways at construction site
2. The Futenma problem: Government explains its plans to the US
3. 28 victims during UN activities
4. Food distribution aid stops in Southern Somalia
5. Japan rabbit's ancestors related to shallow ocean fish

Posted via web from Daniel's posterous

英単語の覚え方２

2010-01-06T11:36:00.002+09:00

一日どれぐらいしたら良いか？

この質問を答えるためにあなたの目的が知らないと分からないですが、３，０００の単語を覚えたいと言いましょう。なぜなら、それは文科省が決めた数なんだから。本当は２，０００ぐらいなら良いんだと思います。それはなぜかというと、２，０００の英語で一番よく使われている単語覚えるとなんと英語の８５％が出来るはずです。一番よく使われている単語が何でしょうか？

1. the

２００１番目が何でしょうか？（これが覚えなくてもよい言葉になります。）

2001. apple

そのリストを見たいとここを見て下さい。これがJohn Bauman先生のサイトからです。

またもう一回言いますが、この２，０００の言葉を覚えれば、英語の８５％が出来ます。すごいでしょう！

でも、文科省が３，０００と言うてるから、それを見ましょう。一日どれぐらい頑張れば良いのか？計算通りでいくとこういう風になります。
一学年が１８５日間（休みと土日をひくと）（私の計算）
その日だけだと、一日１６の言葉を覚えれば良いのですが、６年間あります。それなら一日３単語を覚えれば良い。２，０００の言葉なら一日２単語で良いのです。

MAIN POINT:　六年間に３，０００のワード族を覚えるために一日３単語を覚えれば良いのですし、一番よく使われている物を覚えたらためになります。難しい言葉をムシ！

Posted via web from Daniel's posterous

英単語の覚え方 1

2010-01-05T10:43:00.002+09:00

英単語の覚え方

今日のヒント：英単語覚えると一つのワード族で覚えて下さい。

あなたはいくつぐらいの英単語が知っていますか？

数えて。考えて。ヒント：文科省がいうには高校卒の人は３，０００の英単語を分かっていると言います。

あなたは３，０００の単語知っていますか？僕も知らないけれど、そこまで知っている人が少ないと思いますが、その質問も難しいです。先ずは英単語はどうやって数えていますか？

SEEという言葉を見ましょう。意味は何に？ハイ、見るでしょう。ただこの言葉が変化します、ね。SEE, SAW, SEEN,もあるでしょう。じゃ、これが一つの言葉？三つのことば？この話の中にこれは一つのword familyと言います。一つのワード族と言いましょう。

じゃ、それなら、この言葉はどうでしょう？SAW.これはいくつの言葉ですか？一つの意味が見る、SEE,の過去形, SAW。もう一つの意味がのこぎり。これはいくつの言葉になりますか？これも私たちの話の中に一つの言葉になります。

だから、こういう風なチャートを使って下さい。

NOUN (名詞）	VERB(動詞）	ADJECTIVE（形容詞）	ADVERB（副詞）
saw	see, saw, seen saw（のこぎりで切る）

Posted via web from Daniel's posterous

January 4th's Japanese headlines in English

2010-01-04T08:54:00.002+09:00

These are the top 6 headlines from NHK's Japanese news service translated into English.

1. Earthquake (7.2) in the South Pacific

2. Rescue efforts resume for couple on Hijiridake (Shizuoka)

3. US and Iraq create joint anti-terror headquarters

4. Iraq's People's Assembly elections successful

5. Preparations begin to accept refugees (from Burma) into Japan

6. Research begins to make wave-generated power a reality

南太平洋で地震影響を調査
聖岳夫婦２人の救助活動再開
米・イラク合同の対テロ本部
イラク国民議会選挙の成功を
難民の日本定住へ準備本格化
波力発電実用化に向けた研究

These are the top six from the English page

US, Iraqi forces start joint operation headquarters
State-backed bank will double JAL's line of credit

Automakers developing emerging markets' cars

15 million 3D TVs will be sold in 2013

TSE launchs new trading system

Posted via web from Daniel's posterous

Today's J Headlines in English

2010-01-03T20:27:00.002+09:00

Here are the translated top stories from NHK domestic news.

1. Hit and run accident scene investigated

2. U-turn rush peaks

3. Labor delivers minimal demads for Spring Campaign

4. Talks on implementation of environment tax moves toward materialization

5. Academic achievement tests (for all 3rd and 6th grade students) rejected by 30% of schools

Here are the NHK headlines from their English site

Posted via web from Daniel's posterous

Today's J Headlines in English

2010-01-03T20:10:00.001+09:00

Posted via web from Daniel's posterous

Cleaning, Post Cards and Visting Shrines: It isn't about how good it works

2010-01-02T14:07:00.001+09:00

Cleaning, New Years Cards and Shrines

New Years in Japan means three things, all of which I would rather pass on, cleaning, New Years cards, and visiting shrines. My conclusion this year is that the actual effects these activities produce is much less important than the act of doing them.

Cleaning, or oosoji（大掃除) is when people do a very thorough cleaning and repair in their homes and in other buildings that they are associated with, like dojos, offices, temples, and public centers. The effect of this period of cleaning and repair is beneficial for everyone, as homes and other buildings are refreshed from top to bottom. I prefer to take care of this cleaning more systematically over the whole year, thoroughly cleaning one room each month all year round, while doing daily cleaning chores. That way when I get done with work at the end of December, there aren't huge cleaning projects waiting for me on the holidays.

This year I discovered that it wasn't as important that I actually cleaned much as long as I participated in the process. I tried to convince my wife that I clean and repair all year 'round so I don't have to do it all in a few days at the end of the year. She said that it doesn't so much matter how well or how much I clean, as long as I am participating. After discussing this with another Japanese man, I am convinced that the actual cleaning is of secondary importance to participation in the activity. While things like paper doors get fixed and living spaces get cleaner, the emphasis is on participation with the people that inhabit them.

New Years cards, or nengajyou (年賀状) are cards that, if you post before some date December, will be delivered to the recipients on New Years Day. They are a great thing, and everyone enjoys getting them, but with everything else I have to do, I would prefer to communicate with people year 'round, not have a pile of post cards to write in a hurry at the end of the year.

I concluded this year that there is no actual need to be very communicative, to make cogent comments or ask good questions. The emphasis is simply on the sending of them. "Please, associate with me this year," or a simple "Happy New Year" is enough. Again the emphasis is not on how well you do the job, in this case of communicating, it's just participating that counts.

Visiting shrines at the beginning of the year, or hatsumode (初詣) is an activity that I would rather avoid. There are tons of people lined up to make wishes for the coming year at shrines everywhere. I'd rather stay warm at home, or if I have to go out, then take a walk with the dog or play with the kids than to stand in line outside a Shinto Shrine to make a wish for stuff that I believe these corrupted places of worship have absolutely no control over.

In actual fact, I don't think that if other people in line were asked whether making wishes at shrines works, they would probably say no, if they could even answer the question at all, because is the question is so immaterial to the behavior. They are there because they go every year, and so does everyone else. Fulfillment of wishes is never evaluated.

My conclusion is that these activities are important for the simple reason that everyone does them together. The actual effectiveness of the cleaning, communication, or prayer is hardly a part of the equation. At the end of this year I will smile at my beautiful wife and participate without questions or protest.

Posted via web from Daniel's posterous

Japanese and English News Headline Differences

2010-01-02T13:15:00.001+09:00

If you follow Japanese-only and English-only news on Japan, you will have noticed that content of the two often don't match. I have noticed that the news in both rarely matches. For example, the top news forNHK in English today is
1. Hatoyama to address unemployment
2. Japan to host biodiversity meet
3. Car bomb kills people in Pakistan
4. Hong Kong residents march for democracy.

The headlines in the Japanese news (my translation)
1. Snow causes travel delays
2. Independent Administrative Organization (Institution), Policy proposal by summer
3. Heavy rains in Brazil kill 44
4. Center for victims of sexual violence opened
5. Ibaraki Airport to open without domestic flights

Mainichi and Yomiuri show similar gaps between what is offered as news in Japanese and English, though the top news stories vary greatly.

I'm not sure why editors choose to offer different content, probably because they think their readers will be interested in different information. Don't know about you, but I'd be interested in both.

Posted via web from Daniel's posterous

Assimilation is futile. You will be resisted, in Japan

2009-12-24T13:49:00.000+09:00

"Don't be a nail that sticks up. Assimilate," is the advice from Johin C. Wocher quoted in a Japan Times Online article.

Ahh, were it so easy. Dr. Wocher's ability to assimilate is probably much better than mine. He has been in the country longer, probably has better language skills than I do, and his physical posture is probably more studied than mine, but I bet he still causes cashiers at convenience stores to break out in cold sweats by his race only.

My god, this dead assimilation horse has been so thoroughly flogged in American race relations I hardly have the energy to address it as it applies to Japan. Thank goodness Arudou Debito has already. A great article here.

My experience here is that race is the determining factor in much of our (immigrants') interactions with Japanese, and we will be hammered down whether or not we attempt assimilation or not.

Cases in point: I was playing with my dog in a large open area in our neighborhood recently, when an middle aged woman, who passed us at a distance of somewhere around 50 meters shouted, "Where are you from?" "I'm from here," I shouted, and she moved on.

I was at my home yesterday when the door rang. I answered it, and it was a group of religious types with pamphlets. The elderly man was dumbfounded, and called for backup. The woman who appeared asked the same question, "Where are you from?" I answered similarly, but with a cross tone in my voice as she was standing on my front door step, "I am from right here. This is my home. Is that what you rang my doorbell for?" As she then asked if I could read Japanese, I said yes, but I am hardly interested in anything she would be carrying, and thanked her.

The Borg quote from Star Trek was, "Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated." The Japanese equivalent would be "Assimilation is futile. You will be resisted."

Christmas: Rummaging through Japan's dumpster to find meaning

2009-12-23T10:15:00.001+09:00

The Christmas season in Japan keeps me busy every year. I have to renew my awareness of the true meaning of Christmas, which turns out to be a good thing. In the end I am fulfilled by the results, and thankful for the meaningless crap that conceals the treasure every year.

Japan is possibly the worst place in the world to be for Christmas if you are looking for a holiday to add real meaning and value to your life. The vacuous decorations are everywhere anyone wants to make a yen. People decorate their homes with lights for a little fun during this otherwise dull lead up to the New Year. Businesses rely on Christmas to boost sales as the traditional Japanese New Year may give people reason to stock up on foods, but no on other kinds of material goods.

Television broadcasts images of New York Christmas, emphasizing the message that Christmas is really meaningless to Japan, and that the birth of Christ is only really important to people outside the country. Images of domestic Christmas usually involve shopping and young people eating Western style sweets.

Nowhere is it ever mentioned that the holiday's originated with the celebration of the birth of one of the worlds greatest revolutionaries. Armed only with truth, which he continuously spoke to power, he changed his immediate world and has continued to influence lives for over 2000 years with his message. The powerful have quaked, and the weak have rallied.

I am thankful for the yearly search through the dumpster that Japan provides in order to rediscover that the meaning of Christmas and Jesus's short life for all people is that love is that ultimate power, and with it we can overcome any pain or hardship, and can live in everlasting joy.

Here is hoping you and yours revel in the love that Christmas can help us to remember.

Posted via web from Daniel's posterous

Japanese kids don't want games this year for Christmas.

2009-12-10T14:22:00.001+09:00

Looks like kids want software for the consoles that they have, but the machines themselves are number 10. I asked my son, and he said that he wants a kitchen knife so he can cook. Pretty good for a kid who isn't in first grade yet.

http://news.zergwatch.com/2009/12/08/report-japanese-kids-dont-really-want-game-consoles-this-christmas-japan-3/

Posted via web from Daniel's posterous

General thoughts on Michael Stout's article: Not Guilty as Charged

2009-11-26T11:58:00.000+09:00

Michael Stout's article on entrance exams in Japan was very well researched and written. Entrance exams as a source of positive washback in present conditions is unthinkable. I had never thought that they would also not be a source of negative feedback, but his arguments are convincing.

I have argued before in blog posts that the Center Exam is a logistical achievement that other countries could only dream of carrying off. As a test of student ability, however, it is directionless and inadequate. It is simply a test, and the National Center for University Entrance Exams does not clearly state what it is a test of, a prediction of ability to be successful at university, achievement in high school studies? As an exam its administration lacks transparency, and though it cannot be said to fail to deliver on its promises, it makes none.

I also believe that the Center Exam is a testing ground for Sony (this year) and Toshiba (last year), because they get to test market tens of thousands of listening and memory devices for the English listening test in market conditions that no other electronics maker can duplicate. If super high reliablity in super highly controlled conditions in a super high stakes environment with free human subjects testing machines that they have purchased is replicable anywhere else, I'd be surprised.

As older teachers leave the field of teaching, younger teachers will indeed take their places, but the Education Ministry will still be controlling the curriculum and textbooks for primary and secondary education. Innovation from other forms of education will be minimal because of the ministry's rigid regulations on what can be called education.

My prediction is that demographics and economics will drastically change admissions to and education at universities, but primary and secondary education will remain unchanged, and expectations that entrance exams can in some way influence that are bound to be dissappointed. I agree with you that scapegoating them as the reason that children don't learn English is meaningless, and will become increasingly so in the future.

First, we have to face the possibility that instead of creating a curriculum where a majority of young people can acquire a second language, the Education Ministry purposefully makes a system that will discriminate against all but the elite, those who can afford the best schools and especially jukus. The Ministry has it in its own best interests to create administrators, komuin, that will replicate their originators. This argument may be met with claims of a conspiracy theory, but imagining that the ministry wants to actually educate "英語が出来る日本人” is also belief in a conspiracy, so far a failed one for the most part.

On a more personal level, our entrance screening includes in-house exams, interviews, and Center Exam entrance. Our school will have more applicants that seats this year, and as a nursing school, it is important for us to be cautious in our acceptance of students. Our reputation will be made or broken by our students' success on the national nursing boards that the students take in their last year for their nursing license. We most definitely want students who will continue to study and be successful on those exams, as most schools have pass rates in the upper 90% rank and 100% success rates are not that uncommon. Our entrance process is more difficult recently, because the Labor Ministry is pressuring us to admit more men, but they make poor quality students, jeopardizing our nursing board success rates.

Learn English Women's T-Shirt - CafePress

2009-11-24T22:20:00.000+09:00

Learn English Women's T-Shirt - CafePress
I think it would be unprofessional of me to arrive in class sporting this shirt.

Effect of Diet on Learning

2009-11-24T13:11:00.000+09:00

Just listening to a fantastic podcast of an interview with Susan Powter, who was talking about the detrimental effects of modern "food" on people emotionally and spiritually. My thought was that if what she was saying is true, and I believe it is, then good eating habits must also be good for my students, so I did a little digging.

Eat more good fats
Eat less salt (high levels decrease brain function)
Eat breakfast (just Google "effects of breakfast on leaning." I got 14,300,000 hits.)
Eliminate refined sugar
Eliminate white flour

And if it's good for our students, then it's good for the teachers, too.

Halloween Scavenger Hunt

2009-10-30T10:03:00.000+09:00

Today and yesterday we are doing a scavenger hunt with a Halloween theme in class. The students get ten questions, and have to find the answers which are posted outside along a trail through a bamboo grove. They get treats at the end. Here are the questions I used.

1. When did Halloween start?

2. Who started it?

3. A pumpkin with a face cut in it is called a __________?

4. Children dress up in _________________.

5. They go around the neighborhood. That’s called ________________.

6. Jack tricked ___________________.

7. Pumpkins were first used in ______________________.

8. Halloween comes from a combination of 3 words; _______________ ________________ _______________

9. Western ghosts have __________________.

10. A house where ghosts live is said to be ____________________.

Number nine may be a little tough to answer. Western ghosts have feet. Japanese ghosts are said not to have feet.

Use (English) education to fight terror

2009-10-26T11:14:00.001+09:00

A Pakistani editorial promotes the use of education, with English as the medium, to help young people lift themselves up out of environments that promote violence as a tool for social change.

内容:

"Use education to fight terror"
- Pakistan Observer - Newspaper online edition - Article （Google サイドウィキで表示）

Japan's Centralized Education System is Becoming Unsustainable.

2009-10-23T15:31:00.001+09:00

Japan's huge, unwieldy, education bureaucracy is too large to make even the most fundamental decisions, and the Ministry of Education issues proclamations without concrete follow-through programs of training, initiation, or evaluation. Elementary school level English classes start with no follow through. Nursing schools are now supposed to offer more rounded curricula to reflect the number of graduates who are employed outside the health care field, but with no hint about how they should do that and still ensure their grads pass their national boards.

Decentralization is the only answer for solving these issues and many others, including the number of children who refuse to go to school at all.

内容: asahi.com（朝日新聞社）：EDITORIAL: Decentralizing education - English （Google サイドウィキで表示）

Australia Boosts Funding for Language Education

2009-10-22T13:38:00.001+09:00

Even in these troubled economic times, Australia seems to know which way the wind is blowing, and offering more funding for language education in schools.

内容:

"The Minister for Education, Julia Gillard, today announced funding of $46,000 through the School Languages Program (SLP), to extend and update the 2005-2008 National Statement and Plan for Languages Education in Australian Schools."
- Australia Invests in School Languages Programs | The Gov Monitor （Google サイドウィキで表示）

Learning Often Takes a Backseat in English Class

2009-10-17T09:38:00.000+09:00

As a teacher in a fact-to-face classroom, you will meet learners who are only nominally interested in learning English. They will come to class religiously, participate faithfully, and take notes earnestly, but their language ability may not improve. Here is why.

This is their time. They have left work, taken care of their families early, or otherwise prepared themselves and have generated enough motivation to carry tmemselves to your class. They are there for reasons that you may not be able to fathom, but it doesn't matter.

They may not learn anything.

Your learners may be with you every week for years and never make any progress. They may even lose language ability over time.

They are multidimensional beings.

These people may appear to be flat and dull, but they are each dramatic, multidimensional beings that happen to intersect at your class once a week at a certain time. You know next to nothing about what happens otherwise, and it doesn't matter, because you will be with them for the next hour.

They may dissappear without warning.

These ephemeral beings may decide to exit your time just as easily as they entered, and you will never know why. The good news is that they may flit back into your class, again with no explanation.

Your class is a social outlet in addition to what you are offering as a subject.

People come to your class initially to learn English. They end up creating relationships. We get them to talk about their lives, so they make connections with others. Some of them will take their relationships outside the classroom. They may want to include you in their plans. A few of them will connect in lasting ways.

Some may actually pursue language.

As strange as it may seem after all of this, some will actualy pursue language learning and will include you in on their achievements and failures. They'll go abroad, take tests, apply for new jobs, and put themselves in positions where they have to use their language skills.

Learners will come to you initially because they want or need to be ale to communicate in English. It's hard work, but one thing that will keep them coming back is the relationlships they have made with others in the class.

Your relationship with these people is complex, not a simple giver/receiver arrangement. Enjoy the dynamic dance, the comings, the goings, the connecting and growth that comes with the learning in your class.

"I feel as though I am not Japanese"

2009-10-12T16:05:00.000+09:00

This comment, "'I feel as though I am not Japanese,' she says, because she is able to understand the English speech so well," comes from an article in the NY Times, Obama becomes Japan's English teacher , about how "President Obama's Inaugural Address" has become a huge hit among the English learning population of Japan.

It is also indicative of one of the mind viruses that infects people here, the I'm-Japanese-so-I-can't-learn-another-language virus.

She needs some positive role models, like the folks in my Tuesday night classes.

Japan 11 Universities in The Times Higher Education QS World University Rankings 2009

2009-10-09T10:59:00.000+09:00

Rankings help give people, perspective students, parents, tax payers, and investors an opportunity to compare institutions, but I wonder if they also may not lead to complacency, as politicians and administrators can point to movement in their charts as evidence for superior management or conversely, evidence of the need for more investment.

Japan universities seem to be improving, I mean if you ask the people at The Times Higher Education. This evaluation seems to be heavily weighted in favor of publications, and my guess is that it strongly favors research done in English. It includes scores based on peer review, employer review, staff/student, citiations, international staff, and international students.

"These countries have invested heavily in higher education in recent years, and this is reflected in the improved quality in their top institutions." Wonder where this heavy investment might be seen? I also wonder where this investment might be coming from, industry, government?

"They have also attempted to internationalise their universities by hiring more faculty from overseas ... this helps to improve their visibility globally." Is this where the investment is going, to hire faculty from overseas? It begs the question, why are researchers having to be imported? What systemic problems exist that make it necessary to import scholars, and are these barriers to domestic growth evaluated by The Times?

"These universities have also stressed the importance of their professors publishing in international journals, which has no doubt increased the visibility of their research." Publishing has always been one of those things academics do, but how does it help students? I've heard the arguments, and it may work in some cases, but it fails utterly in others.

At best these rankings can be used by people faced with short-term decisions about how to invest their money or which schools to apply for this Fall, but in the long run, they do not address long term solutions about how university education can be improved.

Will the Web dismember universities?

2009-09-17T14:27:00.000+09:00

An article caught my eye the other day which claimed that, "The Web will dismember universities, just like newspapers." When I tweeted the article, I got several replies, most suggesting that would be the case, with some suggesting the sooner the better. A few suggested that they hoped that it didn't happen too soon, because they were employed at universities.

My prediction is that it will not be an either/or solution. The web will dismember the features least suitable to a modern world, namely the cattle-call lecture. My Chemistry lecture at university deserved to be dismembered. A doddering research scientist with no concern at all for the 200 or so people gathered in front of him droned on about this and that, and the work of organizing laboratory classes and exams was left to his grad student slaves. As interesting and important as chemistry probably is, this should have been a rewarding experience. Instead it was torture four days a week.

At the end of the semester I went to the administration with my opinions since those were the days before course evaluations. The prof had no business in front of a class, and he was an embarrassment to the university. They agreed, and said they knew he was a terrible teacher, but he was a brilliant researcher, so they were going to keep him on staff, and the rules said that faculty members had to teach this class periodically. There it was. The students at that university were periodically robbed, and as years went on protests about this professor increased in volume.

Best case scenario, these kinds of lectures will be offered on line, with lab classes offered at various times and days during the week at the university. This gives the university the opportunity to present stimulating experiences that benefit everyone.

As I consider my own field, language education, the Internet will have a similar effect; it will replace mundane lecture style teaching, and offer a variety of options to suit the needs of more learners, but it will not entirely replace face-to-face college learning entirely for the following reasons.

1. Students don't attend classes because they want to learn.

Learning, a language for example, may be one of learners' motivations for attending a class, online or not, but it certainly isn't the only one. Learner motivations are complex and very difficult to qualify or quantify. Students have shown repeatedly that, though they may want to learn language, they want to do it in a setting that allows them to gather with other people and enjoy the social aspects of language learning.

Sorry, but the middle-aged male prof was not the object of my 19-year-old attention as we were learning Whitman's "I Sing the Body Electric." My attention was devoted to the woman in front of me and practicing, "The love of the Body of man or woman balks account." A monitor doesn't do that justice.

2. The Internet cannot support the level of trust required in relationships that can be made at traditional universities.

Universities are an important part of building relationships of trust, and unfortuntely the Internet, though it allows people to form relationships, does not afford the same level of trust. Student/student, student/faculty relationships that will lead directly or indirectly to employment opportunities for students would be very difficult to cultivate online. These very personal relationships are especially important in the Japanese setting, and to a lesser degree in the US setting.

Relationships on a more collegial level also develop over time between faculty and students. That would be very difficult with the part-time, virtual professors. That is evident now with part time teachers at universities. They are paid to be in class, not to grade exams, not to be available to students outside of class, and certainly not for lengthy talks about their disciplines.

3. Going off to college affords young people with opportunities and an excuse to go away from their families, friends, and surroundings. Their migration also helps parents move their young adult children out of the home.

In some cases that means that people go to another country to study, an opportunity that would be very difficult without being a student. In Japan and the US at least, a visa for a long-term stay is difficult to obtain without a reason. While working on a student visa in the US is not legal, it is in Japan, which gives international students the opportunity to study and work in the country at the same time.

Some kinds of arrangements could be made and the world could change in ways that would remedy these situations, but for the near future, universities have roles to play. Higher education must evolve to better meet the needs of learners. I refer specifically to the mammoth lecture paradigm which best serves the bean counters' needs.

Remote Lectures and classes are a profitable reality in Japanese cram schools, where charismatic teachers train students to succeed in entrance exams. College should be more than that, and online learning has significant limitations which universities better learn to capitalize on.

On President Obama's Speech on Education

2009-09-12T11:42:00.002+09:00

I support Pres. Obama and the contents of his speech, but I would prefer that he had not sought to have it broadcast at schools. My reasoning is as follows.

1. He is setting a precedent for other politicos to beam messages at our kids. Senators, governors, sheriffs, and city council members will now think they have the right.

2. This time I agree with the message and showed my kids the speech afterward, but what if it were W drumming up support for his war on terror/drugs/illegal immigrants/freedom of thought or whatever? He was president, too.

3. School is a place to teach kids what they can't get other places. Teach them what they need to be taught and let them go. I reserve the right to educate my children what doesn't need to be taught at school. More time in school doesn't mean better learning. Of OECD nations, American children spend the most number of hours in school, and look at the results.

Twitter Follow Fridays: A blog version

2009-09-11T17:14:00.000+09:00

This is @yokkaichi1, and at this posting I have 723 tweets on Twitter. At first it was hard to warm up to, probably because I wasn't interacting with people. Now that I am interacting, and have found people who post ideas that resonate, I find it an indispensable part of my professional life.

Follow Fridays have always been something of a chore, and after reading Did @PhilBaumann Just Save Follow Friday?, I have decided to put my Follow Friday recommendations here.

@FarmerPhil, @Kalinagoenglish, @gilesmitchell, @parkhills, @barbsaka, @SugarJo, @cecilanobre, @claytoniantomb, @palmerve, @TheEngTeacher, @englishraven, @CotterHUE

I read so many more, but if you are looking to get started, here is a list of a few of the tweeters I couldn't do without.

Getting ready for writing class: considerations

2009-09-06T13:46:00.000+09:00

In the second semester every year I have a ESL writing class, and traditionally around ten students sign up for it. There is also traditionally a 20% drop rate. In trying to make the class as rewarding for the students these are my considerations and how I intend to meet them this year.

Writing for fluency
Writing for accuracy
Writing for organization
Writing for real purposes
General English general language development

Writing for fluency is a skill most of the students who enroll know very little about. Schools stress accuracy, with volume as an after thought. Neither of these is fluency. Writing fluency is writing with an high interest in communication and a low focus on accuracy. Most writing in schools is on the word level, writing words in spaces in test mode. Students may write on the sentence level, but rarely longer in any language. If there is any focus at all on longer pieces, the one who writes the most words with the fewest "errors" is the winner. At the beginning of class no one knows how to start just writing their ideas without paying attention to, for example, spelling. Here are two activities that I use for fluency.
1. Oneword (as in oneword.com)oneword.com
The students get a word and the write about or with the word for one minute. I use three different words and use this activity as a warm-up.
2. Blacken the page
The students get a lined half sheet of B5 paper, and they fill it up with their writing based on a topic that I give them or on any topic that I give them.

With both of these activities I have problems at the beginning with students who have "nothing to write about." By the end of the semester they have plenty to write about.

Writing for accuracy is something the students are used to, and is the consideration that I spend the least time on. At the beginning of the course they are much more aware of this than anything they want to actually communicate, and their fear of error blocks most anything interesting they have inside them. In the world of word processors, most of what they have to worry about is remedied by the software, spelling, and strange grammar. I focus the entire course on two points, punctuation and capitalization. Since the learners have almost no experience writing beyond the sentence level, they often don't know how to punctuate. They are also confused as to the rules of capitalization, and their first works come out looking like German, with all the nouns in caps. They rarely use grammar that is complex enough to need attention, but when they ask me directly for how to write something in English I help them with acquiring that pattern.

Writing for organization is an interesting cultural awareness issue connected with writing. Students' awareness of organization comes almost entirely from the reading they have done in their L1, and their understanding of it is passive. When you point out to them how a written passage of Japanese is organized, they have their first "Aha moment." Their second comes when we compare that with a passage written in English. The same message is repeated three times, an idea that learners think has to be wrong. When you point out that messages are repeated three times in Japan, like on NHK news and on announcements on the train, then they have something to latch onto and use.

Writing for real purposes is something the learners are very self-conscious about in the beginning. They are not used to seeing their own words in print, and they have a very hard time commenting on other's work. Writing for real purposes also included writing in a real setting, which includes collaboration. Scholars work with other scholars on drafts of their work. Written reports in companies are reviewed and commented on for rewriting by coworkers. However most school students' work is done by the learners alone, for the teachers, and maybe others will see it during open houses at school or when they take their work home at the end of term. Recently students have been using Japanese writing more since email and texting have become so popular with the advent of the cell phone, but English writing is almost entirely done in testing circumstances, and almost never read or commented on by anyone other than the teacher. In my class students are party to any writing, formal and informal, that is done in class. Informal writing assignments include their English Log 2.0, and fluency exercises. Formal writing assignments include a self introductory piece, an introduction to their home town, their favorite recipe, and a piece on one of their special interests. These are all written and rewritten cooperatively, and finally published with a copy for everyone.

General English language ability improvement is another goal of the writing class. Since all of the communication in class should be done in English, this makes the writing class truly a four-skills class. They will be reading passages similar to the ones they will write. They will read their work and the work of other learners. They will talk about their writing and about other's, and listen to classmates talk about themselves and their writing.

Course Evaluations: Reasons, Methods, Meanings

2009-09-01T09:57:00.000+09:00

Course evaluations have been an important part of my professional growth for around fourteen years. The reason that I started using them had less to do with growth than with self preservation, but over the years the process has become an integral part of development as a teacher. I use them for nearly all of my classes, and while they are only one part of my own development scheme, they provide a wealth of information.

About fourteen years ago I was employed by Prefectural University of Kumamoto as an English teacher, and my relationship with the school had become confrontational. They were discriminating against their non-Japanese teachers, and some of us had started the process of seeking redress. One of my students told me one day that an administrator from the school had stopped him one day and asked him about how I use English in my classroom, and whether I use Japanese. Their crooked thinking was obvious, they were going to use that information grounds to criticize my ability to teach. They could use that in several ways. They could say that using Japanese, which I use in class now as I did then, was inappropriate for an English class. They could say that not using Japanese in class was inappropriate. They could criticize my language ability. The only way for me to be sure that I was doing the right thing was to make sure that my practices had a grounding in teaching theory, and ask my students about it, so at the end of that semester I started using course evaluations. I have each and every one that I have asked my students to write since then, which is a considerable stack by now. They are a valuable reference on my teaching, and a shield against unfounded criticisms.

I have found that there are some valuable methods for setting up an evaluation in order to get the best information. I use statements with which students agree, disagree, or choose a response in between.

Use a 4-point scale if you are asking for a scaled response. (Odd numbered scales allow students to choose the easy neutral answer. With an even number of options, they must make a choice. )
Use the target language as much as possible. This is a learning experience, too.
Include reverse statements for particularly important items. (For example: "The teacher was on time for class," and later, "The teacher was late for class." This has two advantages. First it lets you know if the student understood the statements. Second it lets you know if students are really reading the statements or just answering at random.)
Keep the number of questions to a bare minimum.
Make a space at the bottom, not on the back, for comments. Students rarely write comments if they have to turn the paper over.

In administering the questionnaire, I have found that these points are useful in getting the best results.

Explain carefully how the results will be used.
Anonymity for the students is essential. No names.
Explain how the questionnaire works.
Ask a student to hand out the papers and collect them for you.
Leave the room while they are writing.
Ask someone to hold the results for you until after the grades are in, and tell the students that is what will happen.

Once the term is finished, give the questionnaires a look. Here are some points that I use when evaluating the evaluations.

Throw out questionnaires that have only one number on the scale selected, for example all 3's. Odds are that the student didn't read the statements, especially if you include conflicting items as suggested above.
Look for trends, for example general satisfaction with your use of the first language.
Collect commonly occurring comments. For example on my most recent evaluation, some students pointed out that I didn't follow the syllabus. (They are right, and I'll have to do something about that next time.)
Ignore comments that ask for specific activities unless the requests interest you or form a common trend in student opinion. (For example, with courses for the community college, learners often request a unit on a specific grammar point or the use of certain materials. In my most recent evaluations, one student asked for vocabulary quizzes. I include these ideas if they are of interest to me, but otherwise do not consider these isolated responses.)

Questionnaire style course evaluations are only one part of a comprehensive teacher development scheme, but they have served me well. When the university did challenge my teaching ability on the grounds that they had hired a "native speaker" to use English in class, I confidently countered with a request for research that showed that their all English classes would be more effective, and data from course evaluations that showed overwhelming student satisfaction with my use of Japanese in class. They have been an integral part of the evolution of my teaching practices over the years.

Faculty Development Lecture and Workshop: On course evaluation

2009-08-31T16:16:00.000+09:00

Today at Yokkaichi Nursing and Medical Care University the faculty and administration attended a presentation by Professor Masahiro Chikada of Nagoya University's Center for the Studies of Higher Education. The presentation contained new and useful information as well as helping me to reevaluate my own course evaluations and syllabus.

In this post, I will present some of the ideas that were new to me. First Prof. Chikada used an interesting diagram to show the flow of information in any school between teachers and students

Teacher------------------------------>
   curriculum, syllabus, teach, grade
             <---------------------------------------------------------Student
                entrance, register, attend, take tests, course evaluation

Chikada also presented some results of research on course evaluations done by Takahashi Yasuoka

the fewer students in class, the higher the evaluations, from 30 up evaluations decreased until reaching 100 people, where they leveled off
almost no relationship between grades and course evaluations
science and technical fields showed lower evaluations than other disciplines
no relationship between teacher's research record and course evaluations
evaluation results decrease as age rises (speaking habits sited as cause)
results show relationship to days and times, Mondays and third periods being lowest
teachers don't like big classes, but students indifferent
as evaluation questions increase in number, reliability drops
quick feedback on results is important to students

Chikada's conclusion was that
1. Syllabus should reflect the purpose of the class as well as details on what kind necessary for passing and excellence.
2. Schools should determine their own definition of what is a "good class."
3. Schools should put their results to work, praising teachers with high marks and providing support for teachers with low marks, as well as reviewing and revising curriculum and faculty responsibilities.
4. Insure that students and see and feel the results of course evaluations.

Report on the Japan Steiner School Management Business Meeting, 2009

2009-08-30T13:16:00.000+09:00

This is report on the business meeting portion of the Japan Steiner School Management Gathering held on August 16, 2009. They are from my notes and are not to be considered an official document from the group. I post them here as an advertisement for Steiner schools in Japan, and as a record for any interested party.

The Management Gathering was held at the Izumi School in Toyo Machi, Hokkaido. The meeting was attended by representatives from 10 schools and education research institutions.

The meeting started in the morning on the 16th. The agenda included an introductory statement by a representative from each of the ten groups represented. Also attending was the founder of Furuyama Education Research. The schools' reports included numbers of students, teachers, current projects, problems, and plans for the future. Some common issues included school space, teacher availability, and status of students as school refusers.

A representive from the Kyo Tanabe Steiner School in Kyoto reported on their progress in registering as a UNESCO school. A list of Japanese UNESCO Schools can be found here. The application paperwork awaits delivery to UNESCO by the Japanese government.

High schools were the next topic of discussion. Since students are not registered as attending accredited schools in Japan if they are going to a Steiner school, their admission to Japanese colleges and universities is not possible. As a result, some students choolse to leave Steiner schools when they reach high school. High schools are also expensive to manage because of the students' material needs. For example, equipment and facilities for scientific experiments is expensive. As a result there were suggestions that schools cooperatively operate high schools. For example having schools in a geographic area cooperate to open regional high schools with dormitory facilities so that children who continue in Steiner schools could travel to learn at cooperatively managed schools.

The next main order of business was the establishement of a federation of steiner schools in Japan. The suggestion met with a mix of opinions. The main objectives, laid out by the original presenter of the idea were,
1. Serve as a clearing house for information on Steiner schools in Japan and the world for
   a. media
   b. prospective students and parents
   c. current students and parents
   d. teachers and prospective teachers
   e. international media learners and scholars
   f. prospective donors
2. Serve as a political action group
3. Serve as a sanctioning body for Steiner schools in Japan
4. Serve as an economic buffer for schools that require immediate financial support

The final two issues coverd included Steiner Schools in Asia and criticisms of Waldorf schools.

This Sounds Like a Macro Economic Problem

2009-08-11T11:11:00.000+09:00

In Macro Economics classes one of the things you learn is about supply and demand, and how that affects prices. That is, when there is a shortage of widgets, demand increases, and prices go up. When there is a glut of widgets, demand decreases and prices go down. When prices go up, fewer people buy, reducing the strain on demand. When prices go down, more people buy, easing the oversupply. Simple stuff, but why isn't it happening in Japan at universities?

One news article reports that, "Nearly 40 percent of privately run colleges and universities across Japan operated in the red in the academic year to last March." That means prices should be coming down and that more students should be able to afford college now.

But that isn't true. In fact a study research from the University of Tokyo found, "that less than 30 percent of high school students from households with under 2 million yen in annual income go on to a four-year university. "

If there is a problem of recruiting students, schools should be reducing their prices, making it possible for children from lower-income families to get a good education.

There are serious management problems that benefit no one if these problems continue.

Another Anniversary of the Hiroshima Bombing

2009-08-06T09:53:00.002+09:00

About every two years there is enough pressure built up for a new post on the events today. Today is another anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. At the risk of sounding insensitive, the popular sentiments often ring hollow and uninformed. There are no thesis statements attached to all of this outpouring of sentiment. There is never any mention of Japan's plans to build their own nukes, nor of their post-war experimentation with them.

Today on television there will be at least two emotionally charged television shows about how a group of young people lost their lives in the bombings. There are countless "news" reports on the events in 1945 and commemoration activities today. There are memorial services held all over the country, and all over the globe. What is the thesis statement? Any writer knows that there must be a statement somewhere identifying the the central theme of the piece. What is it here? Is it that we should abolish nuclear weapons? Is it that we should pursue a peaceful solution to our problems in the future? Is it that America performed a war crime for which it should be tried and punished? What is the point?

Secondly there is no discussion of Japan's nuclear program. Japan had a program, and it was believed at that time that Japan would test its weapon on August 12 in Hunan, China, the same place where Japanese planes had spread plague virus in experiments on biological weapons. One has to wonder if the people of Hunan were to be used again in nuclear weapons experiments. The Red Army invaded Hunan before the Americans could get there to assess the situation, and as Japan had a weapons production facility there, the Soviets were not interested in having the Americans searching around and getting their hands on valuable information.

There is no discussion of Japan having enough capability to build a nuclear weapon, making it a de facto nuclear state. There is no mention of its "space program" being similar to North Korea's, with definite applications for business and industry, that could just as easily be a missile development program.

This emotional appeal will continue through into September with remembrances of Nagasaki, and the end of the war with no direct, meaningful appeals for peace, nuclear disarmament, or mutual understanding. After all of the tears, and the wishing it hadn't happened, what are we supposed to think?

Learning Vocabulary: Master the Most Useful First

2009-08-04T11:16:00.000+09:00

When you set out to master a new language, you know you will have to learn words. You may rely on a teacher or a textbook to tell you which words are important, and which words to remember, but you must take charge of your own vocabulary learning strategies. If you build your vocabulary, even with a remedial understanding of grammar, you will be able to communicate more effectively and have more fun. Consider these points as you continue on your path to fluency.

How many words do you know in English? If you are a college educated native speaker of the language, then you probably know about 17,000. You probably knew about 12,000 when you began college. Now, how much of that enormous reservoir of words do you use on any given day? The first 2,000 most frequently used words in English make up 85% of our daily language use. That means that most of the words that you use everyday are recycled over and over gain. The other words are there on reserve, but not used as often. There is even a distinction we can make between words we can use actively and those which we only know passively. For example a word that you hear sometimes on the news but have difficulty remembering for yourself when you want to use it is a some passive vocabulary.

What are the most frequently used words? There are linguists who take samples of language from sources, compile the data and calculate the words and their frequency. The most commonly used word in English is the. In fact of the first 227 words so far in this essay, you will find the eleven times. Number 2001, according to the most frequently used words according to Paul Nation's General Service List (GSL) is apple. Think about it. Did you say apple today? Did you read the word? You may have, but even if you have indeed eaten on today, you may not have heard anyone say the word, said it yourself, read it, and even less likely, written it.

The same can be said for any other language in existence. There are some words that are used frequently, and there are words that are not. As a language learner, you should focus on building a solid base of vocabulary with these words in your new language. There is little reason to learn other words unless they are of professional or personal use to you. If there is no such list available for your language, you could start by translating the GSL into your language. (This will probably give you a pretty good start, but it isn't perfect. Not all words will translate directly. For example English has a word for leg and foot. They are distinctly different. In Japanese for example, they get lumped together as ashi.)

Armed with that knowledge now you can move on to remembering the words you need, but you need to be aware that words can be remembered in different ways. Probably the most useful way to have remembered a word is being able to understand someone when they say it. If you are going to use the language for spoken communication, then you need to be able to understand the other person say the word. Then of course, you may want to be able to say it yourself. This means that you will have to listen to the word and repeat it enough times to get the pronunciation close enough so that when you use the word, your partner can understand. You may want to be able to read the word, too. If you are interested in reading menus, train schedules, or historical information about a particular area, then being able to read the word is essential. Writing the word would be handy if you are going to be corresponding with people, business partners for example, in your target language. Then you need to know how to spell the words correctly, too.

These skills are mutually exclusive and do not overlap. Which means that just because you can read a word does not mean that you will automatically be able to say it or understand it when it is said to you. You probably have words like that in your native language, words that you can say, understand and read, but cannot spell. You may not need to be able to spell the new words, either, and that is alright, too. If that is the case, then do not spend time learning how to do that.

An implication of this knowledge is that written lists of vocabulary, like the GSL, will be helpful, but the words will be written on a page. You will need to listen and understand them. Current language textbooks often contain CDs or even DVDs with spoken language recorded on them. If you use one of these for your language, be aware that some of the words in the text will not be from the first 2000 words that we mentioned. Be selective about how you spend your time and energy, but practice the words you hear by saying, reading and writing them for yourself, based on your needs.

Finally there is one truth that you should know. The words in any vocabulary list are going to be what are called root words for word families. One word family may have a root word, like a spoon, which is a thing we eat with, but may also be a verb that means "to scoop out" or "to engage in loving behavior, like kissing." These members of the family are not counted as separate words. They are counted as one in the list of 2,000. There will be words like that in your language, too, and you should make decisions about which of the members of the family are essential to learn and which are not. For example with our word spoon, the amorous behavior meaning is not used that often, so is not really necessary at the being of our learning. Another example is the word for tree in Japanese is ki. It also carries the meaning of wood. Both words are common enough that you would want to learn them both. You may want to make a chart with the different uses of the word, the noun, verb, adjective, and adverb forms of the word. You can add to it later as time goes on.

Learning new vocabulary can be fun and rewarding as you pile up your list of mastered words. It will certainly be rewarding when you can understand and use the words in you new language, and the most frequently used words will be the easiest and most gratifying to remember because they occur so often. Stick to the basics and build a solid base of vocabulary with the most fundamental word families. Listen to and say the words at least, and be able to read and write them when you want to be able to. Then when you branch out into other fields of your language learning, it will be more fun and rewarding.

Locus of control: What does it mean for our students?

2009-07-31T16:11:00.000+09:00

"Locus of control" was a new term that I heard for the first time yesterday. It is a concept that was developed by Julian B. Rotter in 1954, and is now an important tool in personality studies. Locus of control is about the extent to which individuals believe that they can control events that affect them. Individuals with a high internal locus of control believe that events result mostly from their own behavior and actions.

It is applied to many different fields, but basically it says that people with a high "internal" locus believe that they control what happens to them. People with a high "external" focus believe that they have no control over what happens to them, that events are controlled by gods, aliens, or "the government."

This concept was interesting to me, because it gives me another tool for understanding my students and how they learn. Locus of control seems to help predict academic success, like in this study by
Gifford, Briceno-Perriot, and Mianzo that found, "first-year students who entered university with lower scores on the locus of control scale (internals) obtained significantly higher GPAs than those who scored higher (externals) on this same scale." This scale also seems to vary between cultural backgrounds and gender. This study by Takaya Kohyama shows that,"Students from both Japan and Taiwanexhibited higher levels of external orientation than did studentsfrom the USA."

In discussions with my son about this issue, it is his opinion that externalizing influences in Japanese society are so strong that it would be nearly impossible to overcome, even if the students possessed the knowledge of the differences.

What does Education Have to Offer: Should Foreign Languages Be Offered at Public Schools

2009-07-28T18:52:00.000+09:00

This morning I saw two bits of news on education that initiated this rant. First I saw a report on television news about a physical fitness assessment of nursery school aged children in Japan, which showed that some children in urban areas and then read that Illinois is gutting its foreign language education curriculum. That started me thinking about what the purpose of public education is anyway. What is its purpose? What does it really deliver, and what parts of it are essential and what are not?

If Illinois is having to think that hard about whether to keep its foreign language curriculum, then maybe it isn't that important to begin with. There will be all of the usual arguments, that if students don't get another language they won't be competitive, that foreign languages help us process information differently and better, that Americans are not multilingual enough. Those are all fine arguments, but what does that have to do with what public schools should offer and what they shouldn't? Fundamentally public schools should teach children the bare minimum, reading, writing, and 'rithmatic, and the rest is expendable. In fact, that is all they are capable of doing anyway, capable in terms of finances and pedagogical ability. I want my children to be in class learning how to read and write in the language on offer, how to crunch some numbers, and that is it. I want them the heck out of there. I will take care of the rest. I will chose how much of anything else they get. Just keep the state out of my kids' heads.

"Oh, but that isn't fair, " some will say. "What about the kids who can't afford more than what public education has to offer." It isn't fair now. Kids in poorer areas get less than kids in richer areas. The only way that is going to get better is if more people get interested in helping all children in their communities to thrive. It isn't fair in Japan either, even in this country where homogeneous is the order of the day. Kids who go to cram schools don't study at school, because school doesn't offer the quality or quantity that cram schools do. The kids who don't go to cram schools or can't afford them don't get the same advantages. That means that the hours and hours of sitting in classes, being evaluated by teachers on everything from their ability to solve simple math to their willingness to obey without question is part of a pedagogical agenda that has little to do with the state's ostensible concerns about equality. Just keep the state out of my kid's heads.

My son is taking an "Ethics" class now at school. If I thought they were trying to teach them ethics, I would yank him out of that school yesterday. I have no confidence that the teachers at the school he is attending have the slightest clue about what Ethics is about. Instead they teach some basic Philosophy, which I do not object to. Even that is unwelcome from the state. I do not want the state deciding with philosophy is appropriate for my children to learn. It doesn't matter what my leanings may be. I may feel that Marx and Bookchin are appropriate for my children. Just keep the state out of my kids' heads.

We also need to face the realities of modern pedagogical agendas. The paradigm of most education now was institutionalized around the beginning of the industrial revolution to create a workforce capable of operating machinery and sitting for long shifts of brain and body numbing work. It was developed to classify and segregate information in minute detail, not to examine the intricate connectedness of all things. Look for example at English education in Japan. This isn't taught to help young people to communicate. It is a tool to segretate and separate students who can by innate talent or through brute force of will commit to memory the minutiae of English grammar as defined by the Japanese state from those who can't or won't. Just keep the state out of my kid's heads.

Then that's fine. If Illinois doesn't have the money to teach foreign languages, or art, or physical education, or political science, then turn the kids out early and quit trying to micromanage their lives. If Japanese kids can't run or throw a ball as well as kids twenty years ago, and that is important to the communities where they live, then the residents should get together and provide safe, clean places for their children to play, not expect the state to do something it isn't able or willing to do now.

Having doubts about textbooks

2009-07-12T10:19:00.001+09:00

Until now I thought it was handy to have a textbook. It gave me and the students a kind of road map for how to procede. It was easy to make tests for because I could more easily quantify and qualify what we had covered, and so could the students.

This semester I used another method of study in addition to a textbook. Now I am regretting that I required my students to buy the text. First, I started using a method that would get students communicating in English based on their own experiences. I found this idea on Duane Kindt's site on TIPS (Tools for Increasing Proficiency). His method included having students tell other students about themselves, starting from who they are as people and then progressing on to their families and lifestyles.

This process convinced me of some points:
a. Students do not naturally approach grammar as it is presented in textbooks in any skill area, listening, speaking, reading or writing. (Available texts don't approximate what my students want to say.)
b. Traditional testing patterns are not sufficient for helping students learn a language. (Classroom events should steer testing, not artificially imposed criteria.)
c. All class content can be generated from student communication.
d. The teacher's role, at least in the university setting where I find myself, is to introduce a method or methods for learning, to encourage and guide communication, to provide criteria for evaluation, to contextualize student needs and language requirements, and occasionally provide evidence based intercultural perspective.

Textbooks are not written to provide this kind of support.

There are limitations to this approach. It is time consuming, and necessitates a teacher be available to students. That means that this may not be useful for teachers who are paid to teach by the hour. Their jobs are to be with a class for a period, not to plan, or evaluate outside of the class. For those teachers texts are probably an essential resource.

Teachers should quit if they don't like anthem: Saitama gov.

2009-07-10T10:14:00.000+09:00

Teachers should quit if they don't like anthem: Saitama gov.

Public shaming isn't just for kids anymore, it's on the list for methods in treating nonconformist teachers. Not only does Kiyoshi Ueda believe that teachers should quit if they don't stand up and sing the national anthem, he believes that their schools should be humiliated publicly by having the names published. You know what that means.

Translation as a teaching tool

2009-07-09T11:26:00.000+09:00

I've been doing some thinking about using translation as a teaching tool after sharing tweets with CotterHUE. I have never used translation in any of my classes as a formal activity, but I know my students do it all the time we talk to each other. They want to know how to interpret something in Japanese or English. Since our class is a core curriculum class, one of the very few that they have in their course of study, I am obliged to offer basic humanities style content in addition to the English skills development curriculum. The content I offer is usually comparative culture, which is also a kind of translation or interpretation. My conclusion is that whether we offer translation to our students as a formal activity or not, they are engaged in high level interpretation/translation of words, grammar, and concepts during much of their study.

I do not plan to use formal translation as an activity in my classes though, for two reasons. The students who come to this university have been exposed to translation before in schools, and it has been used as a proscriptive activity where word and phrase equivilants are memorized and regurgitated in meaningless drills, aimed only at creating distinctions between students who-can-and-do and those who-can-but-don't. Somewhere someone has gotten the activity wrong, and has been using it as a punishment rather than a creative activity.

Translation can be a creative activity. I had the privilege of working with a professor in Kumamoto who was translating some of the works of John Steinbeck into Japanese. We talked about his work several times, and discussed how translation is akin to writing a creative work itself, because the translator has to interpret the content of the work on many different levels and create ways to communicate that in another language. On the other hand, our students are expected to be able to read some text and switch it mechanically into the accepted alternative.

The other reason I do not plan to introduce translation as a activity in my classes is purely of time constraints. I do not want to spend the time in class on it, considering the factors above. My students will naturally fall into the role of translator as they progress in their language abilities. They will have to accept the role of people straddling the line between cultures and interpreting them for others.

Japan's problems with Non-Japanese (Nurses)

2009-07-09T10:18:00.000+09:00

Since I teach at a nursing college, some of my students tell me that they have discussed the topic of Non-Japanese (NJ) nurses coming into the country. I was curious about their thoughts so I asked some about their ideas. They generally answered that having NJ nurses would be a great way to alleviate some of the problems of a declining population of young people and a growing percentage of elderly. It would also be a great way for NJ nurses, who usually come from countries which don't have such high levels of medical care, to come and learn in Japan. I'm still not buying it. For two reasons; it isn't in the Japanese nurses' best interests, nor is it in the NJ's best interests.

First, it is union busting, put simply. If the motivations were alleviating demographic pressures or exchanging nursing technology for the betterment of the world, then the country would open its doors to all nurses and give them equal support for coming here. As it stands the country has made some deals with Indonesia and the Philippines, both countries with lower standards of living than Japan. Why don't they make deals with the US or European countries? They don't want to hire nurses that will actually expect higher wages.

Why don't they have such programs for other professions which are experiencing shortages in qualified personnel, like physicians and lawyers? My guess is that they know that by introducing programs that open up the medical and legal professions to NJ professionals will challenge the status quo. The government is unduly influenced by powerful men in those professions and they will have nothing to do with it.

Second, it isn't in the best interests of NJ nurses, because this country can't get its head around how it feels about NJ anybody. Police agencies put out posters that say, "Turn in suspicious foreigners." They stop random people on the street in Roppongi, clearly using racial profiling, and demanding urine tests. There are frequent reports of cops stopping bicycle-riding NJ's, ostensibly so that the police can check to see if the bikes are stolen, and then grilling the riders on issues totally unrelated.

This country can't get its story straight about why they want to import nurses, and they can't get their feelings about NJ's together enough to either treat them as criminals and exile them all or welcome them as fellow citizens of the world and immigrants to Japan. Of course I can't vote either, so have no say, but I would oppose such programs.

Japan's problems with Non-Japanese (Nurses)

2009-07-03T16:46:00.000+09:00

Since I teach at a nursing college, some of my students tell me that they have discussed the topic of Non-Japanese (NJ) nurses coming into the country. I was curious about their thoughts so I asked some about their ideas. They generally answered that having NJ nurses would be a great way to alleviate some of the problems of a declining population of young people and a growing percentage of elderly. It would also be a great way for NJ nurses, who usually come from countries which don't have such high levels of medical care, to come and learn in Japan. I'm still not buying it. For two reasons; it isn't in the Japanese nurses' best interests, nor is it in the NJ's best interests.

First, it is union busting, put simply. If the motivations were alleviating demographic pressures or exchanging nursing technology for the betterment of the world, then the country would open its doors to all nurses and give them equal support for coming here. As it stands the country has made some deals with Indonesia and the Philippines, both countries with lower standards of living than Japan. Why don't they make deals with the US or European countries? They don't want to hire nurses that will actually expect higher wages.

Second, it isn't in the best interests of NJ nurses, because this country can't get its head around how it feels about NJ anybody. The police agencies put out posters that say, "Turn in suspicious foreigners." They stop random people on the street in Roppongi, clearly using racial profiling, and demanding urine tests. There are frequent reports of cops stopping NJ's while riding their bicycles, ostensibly so that the police can check to see if the bikes are stolen, and then grilling the riders on issues totally unrelated.

This country can't get its story straight about why they want to import nurses, and they can't get their feelings about NJ's together enough to either treat them as criminals and exile them all or welcome them as fellow citizens of the world.

English as medium of instruction in Asian countries

2009-07-01T11:55:00.000+09:00

I have been following the discussions concerning the use of English as of medium of instruction in Malaysia and the Philippines for a while, and it raises some serious questions for me about the effectiveness of teaching a language in schools with communicative ability being the objective.

First you have the whole national identity problem to manage. In Malaysia English is the medium of instruction for Science and Math. Malay has been pushed aside in these two classes so that young people can learn English, the perceived lingua franca in those disciplines. People see that policy as a betrayal of their national identity.

In an article expressing support for the policy, the writer makes several erroneous statements. "Japan and South Korea, for example, made great advance in the area of scientific and techonlogical development and innovation without having to impose the learning of English and other Western languages on their students," (English spelling errors the writer's). Japan and South Korea do impose the learning of English on their students. And though, "China did not have to depend on English to launch and develop its modern technological industry," "China made English compulsory in primary schools from Grade 3 in 2001, while big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai have already introduced English at Grade 1. According to Graddol's research, an estimated 176.7 million Chinese were studying English in 2005 within the formal education sector," says the Asia Times.

I can also see where the writer is going with his recommendations, and none of it is going to lead to citizens who can function comfortably in the language. "Hence, I can appreciate the minister's shock as (at?) having English lessons in our schools without the proper teaching of the eight parts of speech of its grammar is certainly unsual and even outrageous." (my parenthesis, author's spelling of unusual) Sorry, but what are "the eight parts of speech? "The decline in our standard of English must be arrested fast. Making the language a compulory exam subject is perhaps the most significant major measure to do it." An appeal to fear. (with more misspelled words. Sentence fragment mine) "This is when they start learning English words, like "A for apple", "B for ball", etc."

This article catalysed some thoughts I have been having about language education, and helped me formulate a unified idea. It is that learning English for test taking purposes can be done in a traditional classroom setting, not very efficiently, but it can be done. If the objective is communicative ability, then the traditional classroom is inappropriate, and cannot fulfill its promises to the students, to the parents, or to society.

Positive Impact of Positive Comments by Anyone

2009-06-17T11:27:00.002+09:00

It is an English teacher's ethical obligation to remain positive and foster positive "English image" in our students. I say that today for two reasons. One based on research in the field of language learning, and the other based on research in the medical field.

I was reading my tweets today, and a tweet from Blythe Musteric (@Blythe_Musteric) caught my eye. She had posted an blog entitled "Impact of negative comments on nonnative speakers in the workplace." The title is pretty self explanatory, but basically it says that impatient, negative coworkers can impair their non-native speaker colleagues' language ability by using negative language. The writer suggests that coworkers encourage their colleagues to improve, and uses a statement from Krashen as support.

Doubt and anxiety decrease a learner’s ability to process the language, creating a “mental block” for language learning. [Krashen, S. (1988), Second Language Acquisition and Second Language, Prentice Hall]

If we extrapolate from this, anything we as teachers do or say that increases the doubt and anxiety of our students should be avoided, and we are obliged to increase our learners' self confidence and secruity. We have the ethical obligation to create this kind of environment through the use of predictable outcomes, encouragement, and a curriculum that fosters language development.

Since I teach nurses, I wanted some more evidence from their field of expertise on the effects of positive beliefs. I found an article by Herbert Benson and Richard Friedman, from the Annual Review of Medicine, entitled," Harnessing the Power of the Placebo Effect and Renaming It 'Remembered Wellness.'" In it the writers suggests that the placebo effect gets positive results in 60-90% of cases which are enhanced by a.) positive beliefs and expectations by the patient, b.) positive beliefs and expectations by the health care professional, and c.) a good relationship between the parties.

This kind of research would be very useful in a language learning setting, where one class was left to their own beliefs about their learning and had no relationship with their teacher, and another class where all three of the factors were present, positive beliefs and expectation by the learner, by the teacher, and with good relationships between the two. My hypothesis is that the class with the positive beliefs and expectations and good relationships between teacher and student would perform better than the class with no such benefits.

I do not have data from such a study, but there is enough circumstantial evidence to suggest that it is the teachers ethical duty to remain positive him or herself, to help their students be positive about their outcomes, and to maintain good relationships.

Advanced topics class: Men's issues

2009-06-10T11:22:00.000+09:00

Last night was the first night of a six-week series of advanced level classes at the Community College. I always struggle to keep this class fresh. The learners are all professional people with great English skills who want a place to talk about ideas. This time I happened to find that June is International Men's Month, so we'll spend at least three weeks discussing that.

There are two women in the class and five men, and what I realized in preparing for this class is that we often discuss topics that lead us in to women's issues, such as Equal Pay Day, and Equal Rights, but we have rarely, if ever, discussed what I would think of as men's issues. Last night we spent alot of time on men's health issues, such as suicide, prostate cancer, and heart disease and the social factors that make men more succeptible. They are a very insightful bunch and are willing to talk openly about sensitive issues, for example homosexuality. One man suggested that homosexuality was, "something wrong with their heads." I stifled my laughter the best I could, having never heard someone seriously opine that out loud. The other students did a great job, and instead of saying that there was something wrong with his, their take was, "So what if there is? It doesn't make them any more unworthy as people." Of course they tried to disuade him from his ideas, and in the end I think he was just saying that as a way of trying out that idea in his own head, not that he firmly believed it.

We talked about men having a hard time fitting into companies as functioning communities and the problems that makes when they retire. Community has been very important for people, especially farming people like the Japanese like to see themselves. Until recently the community for men has been the local area around where they lived and farmed. The students suggested that now the company has assumed that role for most men. That is fine until they retire from the company and that community disappears. In the past people didn't retire from where they lived, so their support group was intact when they hit old age. Now it just isn't there, and they may or may not be able to plug into a community that their wives have created.

A great group of students and inspiring conversation. Makes my late Tuesday nights worth it.

Game for past progressive: Stop what you're doing

2009-06-10T10:51:00.000+09:00

Last night I had two night classes. In the first, the beginners' class, we played a game at the end of the period, after we had learned about past progressive, and it was a great success. I got the original idea from a book, but I embelisedhed it enough to say it's new.

I broke the class into two teams. Team A looked away from team B, and I showed B a card with a verb written on it. They were to act out that verb without using words until I said STOP. When they had frozen in the position they were in when I stopped them, A got a chance to look at their positions and guess what they had been doing. When they guessed, they had to use the construction:
They were __________ing.

I used these words:
surf
eat
brush your teeth
drive
wash dishes
watch TV
play tennis
hunt
box
study English
clean house
shop
play baseball
ride a train
fall
shower

It went very well, and we all had a great time acting out and guessing. They were all natural-born actors, and used their bodies to express the ideas in very imaginitive ways. Fall was great! The actors chose brilliant positions, but the other team couldn't guess what they were doing. The actors eventually got tired out from holding the positions, so they sat down while the other team tried to guess, which they eventually did. I thought watch TV would be very hard, but they guessed that one right away.

Lots of fun for these hams.

Michelle Obama's address to WMST High School's Graduating Class

2009-06-05T13:59:00.000+09:00

I was impressed by Michelle Obama's address to the graduating class of Washington Math Science Technical High School, because I have a son of my own preparing for university, and because I teach at one and see so many students letting their time and considerable talents slip away. I went back to collect the main suggestions she had so that I can share them more easily with my son and students.

Here are her suggestions:
You are responsible for your own experiences.
Own your voice. Be an engaged, active participant.
Raise your hand that first day. Ask a question.
Don't be afraid to be wrong. Don't be afraid to sound unclear.
Get to know your professors. Introduce yourself. Attend their office hours.
Be in their face.
Get them to clarify anything you don't understand; that's their job.
Open yourselves up to the entire college experience.
Make new friends.
Learn about others' cultures and experiences.
Get to know people who aren't like you.
Try some classes that sound intimidating.
Learn a language.
Read lots of books.
Travel.
Challenge your mind to embrace the diversity of the world you live in.
Let people know you.
Remember graduation day.
Get to work.

iPhones May Help Japanese University Catch Absent�Students - Chronicle.com

2009-06-03T12:30:00.000+09:00

In the absence of any meaningful study and/or assessment capability for their lame mass production/mass consumption education options, universities take to high-tech spying on their students to check whether they are in class or not. This is a brilliant condemnation of their own academic standards when they show that simply putting a body in a chair while someone stands in front of them and talks is good enough to get college credit. This is a sad day for college education for the following reasons.

And if they aren't in class, so what?
If they aren't in class, if the student decides that today they will bag class, does that mean that the university will collect the data on where they actually are? Will this information later end up in a portfolio somewhere so that it can be used against them when they run for public office? "Remember that one day when you were absent from class? Well we happen to know that you were at a drug rehab clinic on that day, so if you want to get votes give us money." Will we be asked to trust that the information will not be used in that way? Are you insane?

And if they were in class, so what?
So let's say they were in class with their high-tech spy ware. Does that mean that they are actually absorbing any of the information coming out of the person's mouth that is standing 100 yards way? Does that mean that they couldn't be getting more on the subject by digging through the library and researching it themselves? Will they get a better grade on the test because they were there, or could they just as easily study with friends and books?

Student learning research suggests than an entertaining lecture is not necessarily good teaching. Despite being entertained, students may not have learnt anything. Deep approaches to learning are more likely to be enhanced through a combination in the lecturer of explanatory skills and certain communicative qualities. These qualities include the lecturer's ability to interact with students in ways which encourage involvement, commitment and interest (Bliss & Ogborn, 1977). Other important factors include the lecturer's ability to act from a student-centred position, to respect students and to provide individual guidance (Ramsden, 1988a).
Bliss, J. & Ogborn, J. (1977) Students' Reaction to Undergraduate Science, London: Heinemann.
Hodgson, V.E. (1984) 'Learning from Lectures' in F. Marton et al (eds) The Experience of Learning, Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press.
Ramsden, P. (1988a) 'Context and Strategy: Situational differences in learning', in R. R.. Schmeck (ed) Learning Strategies and Learning Styles, New York: Plenum.

How do they know that they are in class anyway, even after spying on them?
So does it mean that by giving out these gizmos that they will be able to confirm attendance accurately? No.

Administrators at the university acknowledge that students could give their iPhones to classmates to sign in for them, but say the young men and women are not likely to part with their mobile devices.

Come on. If they give students new phones, they will still have the phones that they had before they arrived on campus. Their lives don't begin on the day they step foot on the college green. They were high school students before, and their friends have their phones, and all their phone numbers and email addresses are already stored in their previously owned cells. No one could pry my old trusty cell phone out of my fingers, but I would certainly be able to work out a deal with a friend to carry my i Phone in with hers from time to time while I studied with a hot cup of coffee in the comfortable chairs in the library.

Instead of delivering well planned learning opportunities for students, which would include the best learning opportunities the school can offer, access to learning support, and essential assessment, these schools are settling for the lowest common denominator, attendance, and attaching free high-tech gadgets as a way of wiggling out of their responsibility. Ask yourself whose interests this program serves. Our kids'? Ours as parents? Teachers? Society's? Macintosh and college administrators getting a little on the side for their decisions?

Keep your spying paws off my kids and give them the education they are paying for.

Wired Campus: iPhones May Help Japanese University Catch Absent�Students - Chronicle.com

English Logs 2.0

2009-05-29T16:28:00.050+09:00

From the beginning of last year, my students have been using what I call English Logs. The are notebooks where the students record their evaluations of and reactions to the class. In addition they include a one-line journal where students write about themselves and their activities in brief entries that can only take up one line in their notebook.

The format that I have asked student to use is as follows. It is an adaptation of the format Duane Kindt has posted on his site. http://www3.nufs.ac.jp/~kindt/pages/actionlogs.html.

Class date:                         English Target:
            English Used:
(1= not much, 2 = OK, 3 = good 4= Very)
     DID             Interesting      Useful         Difficult
1.
2.
3.
4.
2) One line journal
/
/
/
/
/
3) Comment:

The students are expected to write about their class and their personal lives for five days out of seven a week. In the top section they are expected to copy the day's class plan from the blackboard and then evaluate each point as interesting, useful or difficult. I also expect them to write one comment in the comment section. That will earn them average mark of 7.5 points out of 10. They can earn higher marks by asking questions, elaborating on responses, and drawing pictures that are connected with their class work or personal lives.

These are the objectives of the basic English logs.
1. frequent writing
2. frequent feedback on learning
3. communicate with teacher in English about topics of immediate concern to the students
4. recursive practice with commonly occurring vocabulary
5. provide a venue for discussing class work

Students are also asked to draw in their logs for several reasons.
1. Drawing is a way of showing relationships between things and ideas that do not necessarily involve words, though students incorporate words in their drawings.
2. Drawing is another method of involving more of the students' intelligences.
3. Student drawing is another opportunity for students to be praised for something that they produce. Praise enhances intrinsic motivation and perseverance. It is easy to praise students for their drawings.

The idea of "English Logs 2.0" is to add another dimension to the logs. The original logs were only seen by me and the owner of the log, though sometimes students share the contents of their logs and what I have written. The 2.0 comes from Web 2.0. I first considered using some kind of social networking service, something like Facebook or Twitter, in order to manage students' work, but discovered several problems.
1. Nothing could manage the formatting of this kind of template.
2. Nothing would accomodate students' drawings without advanced posting techniques that I do not want to use valuable class time to teach.
3. Limited computer access, especially at class time, when there are computer classes scheduled, leaving me with no access.
4. Avoid possible problems with uninvited guests.

I ask students to exchange their log with another student in the class for one week. The borrower writes their entries into the owner's book as they would normally write in their own, commenting on the owner's work or on comments or questions that I have written. On the regular submission day, the students submit their borrowed log, and I read the entries as I normally would. On class day I return the logs to their owners. They have the logs for a week, and the process is repeated.

My students have tried this for several weeks, and have been pleased with the results so far. I will write more updates.

Obama, Cheney offer competing views on national security - CNN.com

2009-05-22T13:36:00.000+09:00

Oh, yeah, and I'm going to believe what Cheney says, because what? His credibility is good? He and his faulty intel (at best) got us into Iraq when he was vice president. Now that he's a civilian, he has better insights than the president?

I think not.

Obama, Cheney offer competing views on national security - CNN.com

Expats at work | The Economist

2009-05-20T10:43:00.000+09:00

This article shows two studies that showed that people who live abroad have a creative edge.

There is a real tension living abroad, some significant benefits as well as limitations. I may be more creative, but I live too far away from my family in America to be of much help, especially with aging parents. I have lost contact with nearly all of the friends I had before coming here.

I'm not complaining, just pointing out that there are trade offs everyday. And everyday I ask myself what I'm going to choose. Today I say this is the place to be.
Travel and creativity: Expats at work | The Economist

Why I don't eat meat

2009-05-14T09:52:00.000+09:00

Why I don' eat meat.

Earth groans under the weight of our collective consumption. We say we want peace and happiness and then run the direct opposite direction.

When I was in college, I tried a vegetarian lifestyle, because it was cheaper. I cooked more for myself than when I was not vegetarian, and what I cooked was healthier. I stopped relying on animal products as a source of nutrition, so I was more aware of what I ate. After graduating from college, I took a bicycle trip around some places on the west coast. It was a two-month trip, and I didn't know what was going to be available, so I went back to an omnivorous diet. After this trip, I knew I was coming to Japan, a great time to get back to vegetarianism I thought. That was a mistake. I have a photo of me after I ran a cross country race through the mountains in Kyushu, which scared me at the time. I was much too thin, because I was refusing meat, but didn't know how or what else to cook, so I went to eating anything that I could cook. The problem was that I knew there was stuff out there that I could eat and avoid meat, but I didn't know how to cook it. Then there was other stuff out there that others had cooked, and nearly everything had some meat something in it, so I was refusing it. That was a problem.

Then I had the great good fortune to spend some time with the monks at a small Soto Zen training temple in Kumamoto, Shogoji. There the monks cooked and ate what amounts to a vegan diet, but would eat anything that people gave them as offerings. I remember the monks politely accepting a tray of hamburgers one day from a follower. I asked what they would do with them, and they said that they would eat them. They were a gift, and gifts were accepted without judgement. About that time I also became to understand "the middle way." There are various ways of understanding this, but as for accepting gifts, it made lots of sense.

Then came the greatest influence on my life to date. I married a wonderful woman who literally saved my life and that of my son. Her family lives a Macrobiotic lifestyle. Her father had a serious chronic skin disease that would soon have ended his life had he not gotten it under control. He was bandaged head to foot, like a mummy, and had been all over the country for every kind of treatment available. Finally one day they heard that Michio Kushi would be speaking nearby, and after hearing his presentation, they decided to stake their lives on the principles he introduced. From that day my father-in-law ate brown rice almost entirely, which he chewed 200 times before he swallowed. He stopped all other medication. He drank only tea and ume sho bancha. He slowly recovered, added more foods, and now he lives and works, is an avid badminton player, and rides his Harleys. My wife had atopic dermatitis, a skin ailment that makes her skin crack and itch. Since she started eating Macrobiotic, that has cleared up. When I met my wife, my son and I were taking asthma medication. We both had problems breathing in the Fall and Spring. Since we started living with my wife and eating the food she prepares, we have not needed medication, and all of our symptoms have vanished.

I can't say that Macrobiotics is a meat-free lifestyle. The premise is that people should eat food that is appropriate to the place where they live, and avoid chemical additives of all kinds. This does not preclude meat or animal products, as they may be the only food available to some people in some regions. What it does mean is that people who live where I do have minimal meat requirements. Humans in general don't need much meat. Give the way our teeth are arranged a look. In the back we have grinding teeth for grains and vegetables. We have four canine teeth for meat, and we have cutting teeth in the front for biting off pieces of fruit or other plants. If you compare our teeth to those of cats or dogs who eat much more meat than we do, you can easily see the differences.

Since this is not strictly about Macrobiotics, I will not give a complete explanation of the principles. What I will say is that Osawa and Kushi's principles were also aimed at making the world a more peaceful place. Refined sugar is certainly one problem. Refined sugar consumption has been linked to violent behavior, hypertension, and learning impediments. In one study violence in prisons declined after refined sugar and starch was eliminated from prison diets. In 1991 Singapore banned sugary soft drink sales from all schools and youth centers, showing the danger that sugar poses to the mental and physical health of children.

I have found no evidence that the consumption of red meat leads to violent behavior, like with sugar, but I certainly want to avoid steroids and other medications fed to the animals, and the negative energy that accumulates in the animals as they are kept and killed in inhumane conditions. I want nothing to do with the suffering of these unfortunate beings or the people who inflict the suffering. It is very difficult to avoid all contact. Even though I do not buy meat, I buy from companies who also sell meat. I would rather avoid those companies also, but I practically have little choice.

I am not vegan, and would eat meat raised in ethical conditions like on Joel Salatin's Polyface Farms, food offered to me by friends, or animals hunted in the wild, but will not eat or feed to my children the majority of meat available. It is just much easier to avoid it all together.

Priceless Cheney

2009-05-11T21:25:00.000+09:00

This is priceless. Dick Cheney confuses the Republican Party with conservatism. We will be paying for the Bush/Cheney administration for generations, and their fascist totalitarian tilt put the government's nose in every American's business. Instead of less government, we got more.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney said on Sunday that he preferred Rush Limbaugh’s brand of conservatism to former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell’s, saying Mr. Powell had abandoned the Republican Party when he endorsed Barack Obama for president last year.

Is there anything logical there? Conservatism equals the Republican Party? Did Mr. Powell abandon the party? I don't know about his registration, but I don't think he has. Arlen Spector did, though.

He did say one thing that I agree with. "We are what we are.” Yeah, and lots of us caught on, later rather than sooner unfortunately, to just what that is.

Equal Pay Day and number practice for class

2009-05-07T08:42:00.000+09:00

My students seem to be weak with numbers. They can see them written on the page and understand them in Japanese, but they have problems saying or understanding them in English, so I thought I would give them some practice. The important part was making it something interesting and meaningful, so I thought of something like a Harper's Index kind of effort. I have two lists which I will use for the next two weeks' worth of practice.

Equal Pay Day

Japan 60% less than men August 7, 2009
US 23% April 28, 2009
EU 15% February 24th, 2009
Germany 22% April 27, 2009
Italy 7% January 26, 2009
Belgium 6% January 22, 2009

The US date in April must not include Saturdays and Sundays as work days. I didn't put those in the Japanese calendar, because it went all the way into October with holidays and weekends. Women here will just have to work everyday. (No provisions for equal pay in law, but in signed treaties and conventions, which courts continue to ignore)

Influenza
Swine flu
31 deaths
1884 sickened
2,400,000 doses of antiflu drugs from WHO to countries that need it the most
2,200,000,000 dollar loss in business and tourism in Mexico

Other flu
between 250 000 and 500 000 deaths every year worldwide
36,171 annual deaths in US
71 to 167,000,000,000 dollars a year, cost of flu annually in US

Richard Dawkins, father of the meme, on militant atheism

2009-04-29T18:20:00.000+09:00

I have been doing some research on meme theory and applications, and recently read Richard Dawkins "The Selfish Gene," so I was interested when I saw that he had made a speech to TED. His talk was not specifically about memes, but was entitled, "An Atheist's call to arms." I think now that it was a hyperbole, aimed at jerking people out of their unexamined beliefs about atheism and religion, but it affected me differently. After I watched it last night, I found it was very influential as it served as a counterpoint to other ideas that I have been exposed to, and helped me to solidify some of my feelings. First it helped me to see that deep down, I am an Atheist, a Christian, a Buddhist, Shinto, a Hindu, a Muslim, a Pagan, and every other religion out there. Yes, I included Atheism in under the heading of religion as defined by The Free Dictionary, " Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe." The kind of rhetoric that Dawkins uses is effective in helping people understand that Atheism is another legitimate choice, and that the desire by some people, especially in the US, to exclude its believers from the process of nation building is as foolish and nearsighted as any other kind of exclusionism. I do not believe that Atheism is any more "true" or "right" than any other religion.

I do not want to be ruled by an atheocratic government any more than I want to be ruled by a theistic one. I do not want to be told that a choice that I make is wrong because the Bible says it is any more than I want to told that the choice I make is wrong because it's "lacking any coherent scientific argument," a bit of circular logic in itself. The Constitution calls for a separation of church and state in the First Amendment, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . ." As I stated in the previous paragraph, Atheism should be seen as just another religion with its tenants of Darwinism, and belief in phenomena that can be shown empirically only. Empiricism shows certain things to be true to within a tolerable margin of error, so one is expected to make similar kinds decisions about whether to believe or not. One Gospel of Science shows that breast feeding is good at one time and not so good at another. Empirical Shrouds of Turin are disputed for ages. People believe in the healing power of medicine and are able to cast away their crutches and walk again. None of that is any more believable or unbelievable than any other act of faith in any other religion in the world.

If Mr. Dawkins really believes that Atheism is the one true way, good on him, but childish arguments about who is superior to whom are no more helpful than G W Bush's war on Islam. "I believe a true understanding of Darwinism is corrosive to religious faith." And a true understanding of religious faith is corrosive to Darwinism, so go corrode each other and stay the hell out of my life. I'll still read what he has to say and listen to his speeches, especially when he talks about something that interests me as much as his meme theory, and hope that his speech on TED was just a wakeup call.

Unesco Puts World's Major Works Online - NYTimes.com

2009-04-24T10:32:00.000+09:00

This is really cool. You can look at Tales of Genji on line.
Give this a look!
Unesco Puts World's Major Works Online - NYTimes.com

Gender Discrimination and the Rule of Law in Japan

2009-04-22T11:54:00.000+09:00

I remember when I and my colleagues were in labor negotiations with Prefectural University of Kumamoto, the president of the school at the time was a Law professor, and he protested at least once that Japan operated on the rule of law. Not only do I think that his interpretation of the rule of law was faulty (a generous understatement), but I think that Japan does not operate on the rule of law at all.

I was reminded of this fact last night as my class of advanced English learners discussed gender issues. It was an animated discussion where I had to act as referee several times. I rarely have those experiences here. Our discussion started with an article about a Tibetan woman who had struggled with discrimination in her life in-exile. Then we began to discuss life for women in this country. It was clear to everyone present that discrimination is pervasive and unchecked. The reasons for the pervasiveness were also clear. Discrimination against women is a concious choise by the society of traditional beliefs, superstition, and ad hoc decisions over the rule of law as outlined in the constitution.

To achieve the Rule of Law society envisioned by the council, legislation must set forth judicially enforceable rights and that parties may rely on rather than merely set a hortatory objectives for action and judges must look to legislation as setting forth the consensus of society rather than the amorphous society norms divined by the judicial system. The council's view appears to contemplate a more transparent system where everyone-- whether Japanese or not-- can look at the law as written in the Codes and Statutes and know that when they seek enforcement that they see it actually what they will get without having to divine rules based on a mythical past or a judge's view of what the particular social norm is when the case is decided. Until parties have judicially enforceable rights that are consistently interpreted and enforced, a Rule of Law society such as is contemplated by the Judicial Reform Council is difficult to envision. The Rule of Law in Japan: A comparative analysis, by Carl F. Goodman

More information on the Council is here.

Voluntarism in Japan: What is going on with Scouting here?

2009-04-20T09:49:00.000+09:00

Having just gotten back from a weekend with the Scouts, I am once again thinking of what voluntarism and Scouting in particular mean to this country. I have been working with the Scouts here for a little over six years. I have worked as a leader for Cubs, Boys, and Ventures. This weekend there was a camping trip, and I went out the door Saturday morning and arrived back here this afternoon, leaving my wife to handle our three kids, who are not in Scouting right now, by herself. On returning our conversation turned to the sad state of voluntarism and Scouts in Japan.

I amazed at the general apathy shown by the majority of Japanese people toward Scouts. The country thrashes around creating school curricula to teach "patriotism" in schools, and I am out with a group of kids involved with an organizations whose foundation is based on loyalty to ones country. I teach kids how to handle their national flag, how to properly display and honor it, and it isn't even my flag. Of course this is only one part of Scouting; the other pillars of Scouting is regard for self and others, so that is no problem for me. There should be people, especially the Scouts' parents, lining up to volunteer. Nothing. The more I write, the more I am convinced I have to rethink my dedication to this group.

One of our conclusions yesterday is that volunteering is a higher-order behavior that some people are not ready to do. Giving blood goes against all biological instincts by donating essential body fluids for the sake of someone we do not even know, so I looked at blood donation as measure of altruistic behavoir and compared blood donorship in the US and Japan. According to a Japan Times article, 1.54 million Japanese people made 200-ml donations and 2.73 million made 400-ml donations in 2000 for a total of 4.27 million donations. According to the American Red Cross, 8 million donors gave 15 million donations in 2001.

On 9/11 I was in sunny Arizona, getting ready to head back to Japan. My plane was canceled, and I had a strong feeling that I had to do something to help. I thought about getting in the car and driving to New York, but I had my very small son with me at the time, and rejected that idea. I decided to go give blood, so I found the nearest donation center and drove down. The line outside the building stretched for fifty yards in the 100 degree heat. I got in line, and then food and water started to arrive for the people in line. An empty shop next to the donation center was opened as an extra waiting room, and there was food and drink there for dozens of people, all donated by shops and individuals. I am type O, so they told me to come back the next day, but they sent everyone else home, because they had enough of all other types. I went back the next day, but was told to wait until they called me. They did call me two days later. That is how many people were giving.

The US has problems, but let me tell you, the willingness to line up and get to work when there is a need is not one of them. Japan has serious issues.

Texan lawmaker says Asians should adopt surnames that are 'easier for Americans to deal with' - Telegraph

2009-04-13T16:12:00.002+09:00

Wow, I'm surprised. Texas politicians are usually so much better informed. Maybe Mrs. Brown would like us all to be named Brown. That would be easy for her to remember. Just cut out all those difficult to remember names like Smith, Jones, and Obama, and just go straight to Brown.

In reality, Asians have difficulty with Asian names. She probably just forgot that Asia is a continent, not a country called China. Chinese students who come here as international students have their names rendered into Japanese pronunciations based on the Chinese characters for their names. It is my understanding, though I have not had direct experience with this, that the same thing happens to Japanese people who go to China. My name is rendered into a more easily understandable Japanese syllabary called katakana, making my name something like Kaku. In fact they wanted to put that on my childrens' Japanese passports, because all names must be written in Roman letters. I held that their family names are not spelled that way, and they have the right to have their names spelled correctly. They are spelled correctly on their passports.

Names are hard work for anybody, and a politician who expects to garner votes from citizens with a population as diverse as America's had better get with it. Immigrants to the US don't have to go through Ellis Island anymore, thankfully, where there names were erroneously transcribed by lazy functionaries. Otherwise there would probably be alot more Browns.

Texan lawmaker says Asians should adopt surnames that are 'easier for Americans to deal with' - Telegraph

On the Twitter Experiment

2009-04-09T11:54:00.000+09:00

A month ago I posted a blog about starting to mess around and find out what Twitter is about. I have messed around for a month, starting Thursday, March 5, with 152 posts, or 4.34 posts each day on average. I have sent 45 @ messages, and have received 29. I am following 39 people, and am being followed by 27. I would quit my twitter account today, but for some potential projects in the future for which an account may be useful. Twitter is limited in two ways. There is not enough interaction with the people that I follow or who follow me. The posts are too short to be useful.

First, there is not enough interaction with the people that I follow to make it interesting. There are people being followed by tens of thousands of people. This may be what is called social networking, but it is all going one way. My definition of networking would include the expectation that information is flowing both ways. For some people, that would be alright in a limited way. For example, it would be interesting to require politicians to post. One of the big reasons that it isn't very interesting to me is that most of my family, friends and colleagues, if they are using social networking at all, are using Facebook, not Twitter.

The posts are too short to be useful is the second reason that it isn't interesting for me. Of the 18 posts on one page, 13 include urls. I don't have time to check out each url to see if it's worth reading. For example, one person I'm following, and a person who I think has valuable things to say normally, has posted, "I'm hungry. Watch out," and has attached a url. I have no idea what he is on about, and will not check to find out what the url is.

I will focus more of my networking time on writing longer pieces for my blogs and reading and commenting on blogs that are interesting and useful to me.

This week's plan

2009-04-08T11:07:00.000+09:00

At the nursing school I have three classes a week, all freshmen, so I have to teach them all as much the same stuff as possible. Of course there is some variation from one class to the next.

Even though I have written outlines for what I want to do with each class, the content varies slightly. On my first day of class I used the concentric circle diagram of English varieties to show that there is no monopoly on Enlgish, and that Japanese is on its way to becoming a recognized variety. Today, I forgot the graph, and just talked about it. (Of the two, Mondays was the prefered pattern.)

We all did an icebreaker activity, an alphabet circle where students get into a circle in alphabetical order based on first their last names, then their first. Then we talked about the past, present and future of the English language, and I don't mean grammar. Finally, we talked about our classes and the opportunities for learning English here at this university.

Student comments on Goals

2009-03-25T16:19:00.000+09:00

In some of my recent Community College classes, one for discussing films and one for speech making, I asked the students about their goals for the class before it started. Before I throw the paper out, I thought I would post what their comments were.

Looked at together, they are a good picture of what upper-intermediate students want from their English classes, regardless of the content.

To brush up my skills through the before lessons, going to the movie. I like speeches of politicians, authors, and other speakers. So that, I want to listen them and figure out in detail. Through this class, I'm going to accelerate my learning
I want some friends who can speak English very well. (I want them to inspire me.)
To exchange alot of information about movies. (speaking, slang)
to learn various expressions
express correctly what I feel and think about
I thought I would get many comments for grammar. But I could enjoy making a speech. I want to learn grammar much more. I can't get used to be nervous!! I hope I can get over it some day.
I want to speak more. I have many opportunity to speech in school, so this class is very good for me.
Correct my pronunciation for raising speaking skills.
I want to take more business like lessons.
just have a lot of talking time with English
I hope enjoy English with everyone!
I want to speak smoothly. I'm ashamed when I speak. So I want to speak without shaming.
I'd like to speak English without hesitation.
Keep in touch. Improve pronunciation. Learn more expression.

Question aout EIKEN statistics on numbers who pass attempted tests

2009-03-24T12:25:00.000+09:00

As I posted earlier, I am looking at information on standardized English tests so that I can better advise students. I have a question about EIKEN's reported pass percentage figures.

Their data shows a declining percetage of people who pass the test as the test becomes more difficult.
For example:
Level 1 12.8%
Level 2 26.5%
Level 3 59.1%
Level 4 74.1%
This comes from the EIKEN data here.

I would think that the percentages of those who pass would stay relatively level, unless people underestimate their language ability and take tests that are easy for them first and then rise to their level of inability. If people were always trying to pass the highest possible level for themselves, it may stay more constant.

Any other ideas?

What do the visuals on standardized English test companys' sites tell us?

2009-03-24T09:44:00.000+09:00

Just doing a little digging and preparation on what to tell my students about standardized English tests that are available. I've been looking at five products that are available in Japan, and am interested in the visuals that each of the sites use to advertise their product. Give these top pages a look first.
Cambridge ESOL
TOEFL
TOEIC
IELTS
EIKEN

In all of the sites, other than EIKEN, the images of people show happy people of different ethnicities, well attired. In the EIKEN images you get people of one racial group, bent over desks, heads down, not smiling. Does that make you want to take the test? Granted, IELTS hardly shows any people other than the small thumb of a woman on the left margin, but her head isn't bowed.

Raising bilingual children takes time, huge effort — and lotsa money

2009-03-23T11:29:00.000+09:00

This is a great article that sums up very well the issues involved in raising bilingual children. Many of the people that my son and I communicate with in Japan, teachers included, think that learning another language as your first is genetic. "Oh, your father is American, you must speak English," they say. The only reason that my son is bilingual is because he has done the hard work and my wife and I have advocated for him every step of the way.

The only reason that Japanese parents don't do the same thing is because they believe, unfortunately, that they can't. Sorry about that, but I have three all together, and we'll make sure they get the gift of bilingualism.

Raising bilingual children takes time, huge effort — and lotsa money | The Japan Times Online

EFL in Japan

Words and letters may not be all they're cracked up to be

Using Newspaper Inserts to Teach Ethos, Pathos, and Logos

Another seal gets a certificate of residence (住民票）

Open Letter to the Reptilian Overlords RE: Education

Dolphins in Taiji

Eat Right, Learn Right

Startled Awake: tanka

Public speaking: Comparison speech preparation with "would you rather..." gambits

When Less Might Be More: Improptu vs. Planned Conversation

Advanced English Class: A Better Way curriculum

Social Contribution Ads on Japanese Television

The Metephysical Laws of Learning: Introduction

High court sides with Tokyo on anthem | The Japan Times Online

Kelley Williams-Bolar: Jailed for Sending Kids to "White" School District

Education Roundup: More Segregation, Science Fails, and the State of the Union

Ohio Case: The 'Rosa Parks Moment' For Education?

How words get the message across : Nature News

Technorati blog claim post

Report Shows College Students Learn Little During First Two Years-- Misplaced Criticism

Japan's Center Exam: What does it really test?

Keio Univ. to stop using standardized entrance exam : National : DAILY YOMIURI ONLINE (The Daily Yomiuri)

Most favor making English study mandatory for 5th, 6th graders: poll › Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion

Eide Neurolearning Blog: Curiosity and the Creative Drive

Psychologist Shows How The Accent Shapes Our Perception Of A Person

Presentation software: three suggestions

Education Ministry Blames teachers and students for bullying

Black Melon Bread

Typhoon Chaba Wreaks No Damage, and Leaves Behind Lifegiving Water

Komono, Japan, October 30, 2010Typhoon Chaba passed east of Komono, Japan, leaving no damage in its wake, and leaving much-needed moisture in the Komono area.

Outbreaks of Pleasantries in Japan: Convenience Store Clerk Adjusts Legal Alien's Collar

(I'm so sick of corporate media bad news that I can't relate to at all. I'm going to print some good news.)

Komono, JapanAt 08:14 on Thursday, October 28, a clerk at a convenience store (Ministop) in Komono, Japan, reached across the counter and asked the customer, Daniel T. Kirk, legal alien, if she could adjust his collar.

Criticisms of scaffolding and remembering of names in the Classroom

New Approach for Teaching Advanced EFL Learners

52 Weeks-- Getting to know you

Tuesday Night Beginners: Food Activity

High Beginner to Low Intermediate Activity: Home

experience knowledge imagination illust

Richard Dawkins on our "queer" universe, Advanced ESL Activity

Advanced ESL class questions for J.K. Rowling: The Fringe Benefits of Failure

J Pop History, Past Tense Activity

J Pop History, Past Tense Activity

A non-Luddite, Tao Approach to Technology Integration

Purity of Heart

Chuang Tzu Chap 12

フラシュ カードを使いましょう！

January 6 Japanese headlines in English

英単語の覚え方２

英単語の覚え方 1

January 4th's Japanese headlines in English

Today's J Headlines in English

Today's J Headlines in English

Cleaning, Post Cards and Visting Shrines: It isn't about how good it works

Japanese and English News Headline Differences

Assimilation is futile. You will be resisted, in Japan

Christmas: Rummaging through Japan's dumpster to find meaning

Japanese kids don't want games this year for Christmas.

General thoughts on Michael Stout's article: Not Guilty as Charged

Learn English Women's T-Shirt - CafePress

Effect of Diet on Learning

Halloween Scavenger Hunt

Use (English) education to fight terror

Japan's Centralized Education System is Becoming Unsustainable.

Australia Boosts Funding for Language Education

Learning Often Takes a Backseat in English Class

"I feel as though I am not Japanese"

Japan 11 Universities in The Times Higher Education QS World University Rankings 2009

Will the Web dismember universities?

On President Obama's Speech on Education

Twitter Follow Fridays: A blog version

Getting ready for writing class: considerations

Course Evaluations: Reasons, Methods, Meanings

Faculty Development Lecture and Workshop: On course evaluation

Report on the Japan Steiner School Management Business Meeting, 2009

This Sounds Like a Macro Economic Problem

Another Anniversary of the Hiroshima Bombing

Learning Vocabulary: Master the Most Useful First

Locus of control: What does it mean for our students?

What does Education Have to Offer: Should Foreign Languages Be Offered at Public Schools

Komono, Japan, October 30, 2010

Typhoon Chaba passed east of Komono, Japan, leaving no damage in its wake, and leaving much-needed moisture in the Komono area.

Komono, Japan

At 08:14 on Thursday, October 28, a clerk at a convenience store (Ministop) in Komono, Japan, reached across the counter and asked the customer, Daniel T. Kirk, legal alien, if she could adjust his collar.

Chuang Tzu
Chap 12

フラシュ　カードを使いましょう！