Using English as a Second Language in Japan

Mitsuaki Hayase

December 18, 2005 Mie Branch, Chubu English Language Education Society
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Outline of the talk: 4 parts

I. Getting ready to be a user of English as a second language in Japan

--ESL in Japan-What does it mean? --Bilingualism --Code-switching --English as an additional language (EAL) --The idea of +2
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II. On Use --Importance of use --Condition of learning --Communication continuum --Four areas of use --Check it out!...how are we using English?
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III. Demonstration --Information (getting) on the Internet --Multi-listening IV. What do we need to do now?

I. Getting ready to be a user of English as a second language in Japan English as a Second Language

---What does it mean? According to LDLTAL (2002):

(1) Narrow senseWhen English is necessary for everyday life (2) Loose senseWhen English is learned after L1 is learned
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English as a second language?

---What does Hayase mean? --Loose senseWhen English is learned after L1 is learned

--English as a second working language ( Japans Goals in the 21st Century, 2000)
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Bilingualism and Code-switching

What is a bilingual?
--What is your image of a bilingual?

Bilingual: A person who uses at least two languages with some degree of fluency (LDLTAL) About half the world population is bilingual. (Grosjean 1982, cited in Ichida 2003, p. 22)
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Hayase would say, We are all bilinguals in one way or another.

A junior high school student with

1, 000 wordsa full-fledged bilingual Code-switching (

English as an additional language (EAL) The idea of 1 + 2

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Cook (2001) says: Teachers should be clear in their minds that they are usually teaching people how to use two languages, not how to use one in isolation.Rather, the aim is people who can stand between two viewpoints and between two cultures, a multi-competent speaker who can do more than any monolingual. (p.179)
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Becoming bilingual is a way of life. Brown 1994 , p. 1)

Brown says:
Your whole person is affected as you struggle to reach beyond the confines of your first language and into a new language, a new culture, a new way of thinking, feeling, and acting.
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II. On Use
Importance of use (1)Skill-getting vs skill-using

(Rivers, 1981: 1st edition 1968) (2) Usage vs use (Widdowson. 1978)

Skill-getting, usageknowledge of the language Skill-using, useactual use of the language

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Conditions for language learning Harmer (2001, p. 70) says:

all that anybody needs to learn a new language are those three elements: exposure, motivation, and opportunities for use. Wills (1996, p. 11) says: Essential: exposure, use, motivation Desirable: Instruction
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Hayases scheme in Japan:

EXPOSURE INSTRUCTION PRACTICE USE

MOTIVATION

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Communication Continuum
(Based on Harmer, 2001)

use in real life

non-communicative end communication continuum

grammar/vocabulary practice pattern practice reading aloud ( Dialogue practice . (ex) How many~? Interview game about communicative activities with information gap but with specific practice point

communicative end

authentic tasks using all and any language at your disposal to achieve a communicative purpose (ex) Whats in the card/Ten differences in a picture

.
.

families

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Four Areas of Use

Communication
Information (getting) Entertainment Intellectualization

*These four areas are not mutually exclusive.

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1st Area of Use: Communication

--Writing emails and letters --Talking with ALTs and native speaker colleagues --Talking with foreign students --Keeping a diary: intra-personal communication

--Posting messages on BBSs

--Joining in on-line chatting
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2nd Area of Use: Information (getting) --Reading newspapers, magazines, books, pamphlets in paper as well as on the Internet --Listening to news on the radio and on the Internet --Watching news, documentaries, travelogues on TV and on the Internet
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3rd Area of Use: Entertainment --Watching movies on TV, in theaters, and on the Internet
--Reading jokes in books and on the Internet --Reading literature in books and on the Internet --Singing songs
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4th Area of Use: Intellectualization

--Preparing English classes

--Conducting classes in English

--Co-teaching classes with ALTs

--Doing research for writing papers

--Using English to improve ourselves

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Lets Us Check Our Use of English!

Please use the handout on

Using English as Second Language in Japan

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III. Demonstration
Information (getting) on the Internet BBC (U. K.) CBS NEWS (USA) VOA (USA) THE WHITE HOUSE Presidents Weekly Radio Address to the Nation
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Multi-listeningA Case Study Bomb Blasts in Egypt on Oct 7, 2004!

Time line
Egypt 10:00 p.m., Oct 7 Japan 5:00 a.m. Oct 8 7:00 a.m., no news on NHK 8:00 a.m., BBC

10:00 a.m., NHK

1st Video 12:00 a.m., CNN (NHK)

2nd Video
3rd Video

17:25 a.m., ABC (NHK)

9:00 a.m., Oct 9, BBC
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Reading newspapers while listening..

The New York Times October 7, 2004

BBC News in Spanish

October 8, 2004

BBC News October 8, 2004

Using Roboword
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HP
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http://www.cc.mie-u.ac.jp/~lq20102/

IV. What do we need to do now?

1. Action Plan to Cultivate Japanese with English Abilities ( March 31, 2003 --The entire public should be able to conduct daily conversation and exchange information in English based on basic and practical communication abilities acquired at different levels of English education in junior high schools, senior high schools and universities --University graduates should be able to use English in their work (Summary by Hayase)

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2. Interest to use English outside class

3. Finding situations where English can be used in our lives
Situations for: primary school children Junior high school students Senior high school students College students Adults

4. Enrich our Japanese

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References Books and papers Brown, H. D. (1994). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, 3rd Edition. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents. Cook, V. (2001). Second language learning and language teaching. London: Arnold. Crystal, D. (2003). English as a Global Language, 2nd ed. Cambridge: CUP Grosjean, F. (1982). Life with Two Languages: An Introduction to Biligualism. Harvard University Press. Harmar, J. (2001). The Practice of English Language Teaching, 3rd ed. Harlow, Essex: Pearson Education Limited. Rivers, W. M. (1981). Teaching Foreign-Language Skills, 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Widdowson, H. G. (1978). Teaching Language as Communication. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Willis. J. (1996). A Framework for Task-Based Learning. Harlow, Essex: Pearson Education Limited.

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. 2001. . . 2003. Vol. 32, No. 8, pp. 2233. . 2004. . 2000. No. 107, pp. 20-21. 1986. .
.2000.

Websites: Developing a strategic plan to cultivate "Japanese With English Abilities" (2002) (http://www.mext.go.jp/english/news/2002/07/020901.htm) Japan's Goals in the 21st Century (2000) (http://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/21century/report/pdfs/index.html) Regarding the Establishment of an Action Plan to Cultivate Japanese with English Abilities (2003) (http://www.mext.go.jp/english/topics/03072801.htm)
Dictionary: LDLTAL Richards, J. C., & Schmidt, R. (2002)Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics, 3rd ed. Pearson Education Limited.
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