The Latest News in ELT

September 2002

Rock Me, Amadeus!
For more than a century Tokyoites have looked forward to their annual season of the Tokyo International Players. But this season's first production is nothing less than Peter Shaffer's masterpiece AMADEUS, in a brand new production! The director is John Owens, who brought us last season's delightful "California Suite", and is now totally immersed in the world of Mozart and Salieri. AMADEUS will be presented at the Tokyo American Club on 11th, 12th and 13th October at 7:30 pm on Friday and Saturday and 2:00 pm on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are 4,000 yen and 2,500 yen for students. For more details please e-mail boxoffice@tokyoplayers.org or call 090-6009-4171. For more info, see www.tokyoplayers.org. (September 30, 2002 )

Drop in Average Salary
Figures released yesterday showed that the average annual private-sector salary in Japan has dropped by 70,000 yen from last year to 4.54 million yen. The major reasons given were the increase in part-time workers and a drop in bonuses. The average salary for a male worker was 5.58 million yen, while that for female workers was 2.78 million yen. As a comparison, the minimum after-tax salary on the JET Program is 3.6 million yen. (September 27, 2002 )

North Wind Bows to the Rising Sun
Education Week yesterday carried an extensive article on Japan's education system, past and present. The article used the metaphor of Aesop's fable of the North Wind and the Sun to compare the high-pressure education style that worked for many years and the more relaxed "yutori kyoiku" system currently being phased in. There's also a link to a similar article from 1985 which provides an interesting historical perspective (read the article). (September 26, 2002 )

Saipan Stepping Stone for Students
The Saipan Tribune yesterday reported on how the Pacific island's Northern Marianas College aims to become the school of choice for Asian students hoping to study in American colleges. The plan is to attract college students from Asia, particularly Japan, to enroll for a two-year Associate's Degree, with guaranteed transfer at the junior level to a four-year college or university on the U.S. mainland. Saipan's proximity to Asia, relatively low cost of living and tropical climate add to its appeal as a stepping stone to a US college education. (September 25, 2002 )

New Edition of the SOED
The Fifth Edition of the "Shorter Oxford English Dictionary" will be published on September 26th. The new edition has more than 3,000 new words added, updated quotation paragraphs, and a new, more user-friendly page layout. Since the 1993 edition of the "Shorter OED", the Internet has formed, grown, and given rise to many new terms. The editors also chose important words and senses from the fields of fashion, food, commerce, the sciences, and world slang. (September 24, 2002 )

Do the Publisher Shuffle
There have been several changes recently at the major publishing companies in Japan. Stuart Bowie has moved from Macmillan to Thomson; Raphael Bougeois from IPI to Thomson; Alastair Lamond from Thomson to Longman; Rika Kojima moved in the opposite direction, from Longman to Thompson; and Jonah Glick and Tom Sweeney were promoted at Longman, Tom to their Hong Kong office. (September 20, 2002 )

David Paul Weds
David Paul, the well-known author, teacher trainer and founder of ETJ, tied the knot recently at a small ceremony in Hiroshima. Yumi Uchikoshi, who works as a translator for Mazda and is from Kure in Hiroshima, made up the other half of the happy couple. The Cambridge-educated David will be Finding Out more about the meaning of marriage soon and will no doubt be using a number of Communication Strategies to ensure that wedlock remains smooth. Whether he will be Teaching English to Children in Asia of his own, remains to be seen. Asked about how the couple met, David is reported to have replied "we got stuck in a revolving door once and have been going around together ever since..." Best wishes to Yumi, and to the extremely lucky David, from all at ELT News! (See larger photo - 78Kb) (September 19, 2002 )

Bloomsbury Acquires Peter Collin
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc has acquired specialist dictionary and language publisher, Peter Collin Publishing Ltd for a reported GBP860,000. Bloomsbury is known for the Harry Potter series and the Encarta reference series, including the Encarta World English Dictionary. Owners Peter Collin and his son Simon will retain Modern English Teacher magazine, which it acquired recently from Longman, as well as student magazine Modern English Digest. (September 18, 2002 )

Summer Holidays in October?
Earlier this month, the education ministry made an appeal to prefectural education boards to consider moving part of the summer vacation to the autumn. This has already been implemented in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, where a week has been taken from the elementary and junior high school summer break and students get a full week off in October. A similar system is also in place in Nagano Prefecture. The main purpose of the plan is to boost the tourism industry by reducing the travel bottlenecks that invariably build up in summer. ()

Student Loans to Reverse Falling Birthrate?
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry last week suggested financing student loans with public pension reserves as a means of offsetting the cost of raising children. The plan is intended to help reverse the ongoing decline in the nation's birthrate, as the cost of education can be enough of a potential burden to discourage people from having children. The plan is to be considered by an advisory council on social security. If implemented, it will go into action in 2004. (September 17, 2002 )

Online English for Professionals
A new online English-learning system has been developed by The Institute for Professional English Communication (IPEC), an NPO based in Tokyo. Aimed mainly at engineers, the system requires users to attach a camera, microphone and other devices to their computer. It provides "man-to-man" lessons around the clock. The system utilizes teaching materials used in the US to assess the communication skills of doctors, engineers and other professionals. IPEC offers online tests that certify students' listening ability and technical vocabulary. The new system is also designed to help students prepare for the tests. (September 16, 2002 )

Danger, English Teacher! Danger!
A group has been formed by Ritsumeikan University and several other educational institutions and private companies to build a robot that can teach English to children. One of the companies, Advanced Telecommunications Research (ATR) of Kyoto, has developed a pet-like robot known as Muu (it looks something like Mike, the green, one-eyed character in the movie Monster's Inc). The group, which also includes IBM Japan, will expand the robot's memory and ability to hold a conversation. Tests with young children will begin this month and the group plans to give the robot teacher its debut next year at an edutainment forum. (September 13, 2002 )

Got a Big Nose? Teach in China
It seems many Chinese have the same misconceptions as their Japanese neighbors of what constitutes an English teacher. China's rapidly growing interest in English is creating a lucrative market...for just about anyone with white skin and a "big nose". Despite strict regulations on the hiring of foreign teachers in China and requirements including four year's work experience and a TEFL or TESOL certificate, many schools are hiring tourists or students to fill teaching posts. While the official number of licensed schools is around 2,000 it is believed there are a lot more in operation. While many schools seem happy enough to pass off anyone as an English teacher, regardless of their actual ability or the thickness of their accent, a growing number of students are realizing they're being had. It all sounds quite familiar to anyone who's been in Japan since the 1980s. (September 12, 2002 )

Koizumi First Leader to Visit Harvard
This week, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi became the first Japanese leader to visit Harvard University. Koizumi told a gathering, "Education is essential for sustainable development and the future of the Earth." He later shook hands with some of the 200 participants at the reception. Among those present was Ezra Vogel, who wrote the book "Japan As No. 1" in 1979. (September 11, 2002 )

(Big) New Kid on the Block
A new multimedia teaching system, three years in the making, was launched this month by Berlitz Japan. BerlitzEnglish was developed by the company's US parent and will be sold worldwide. The system utilizes the Internet, DVDs and magazines to present task-oriented content that is aimed at beginning and intermediate-level learners. Included in the content are magazine articles and TV clips provided by partner AOL Time Warner. There will aso be a dedicated web site which will be a centralized location for students worldwide to interact. The materials sell for 59,000 yen for a complete package of all levels. Students can also enroll for a six-month course of small-group lessons. Berlitz Japan expects the new system to booost its enrollments by 20-30%. (September 10, 2002 )

Teacher Sprays Students With Insecticide
According to a Mainichi Daily News report, a teacher recently accompanying a group of elementary school girls on a long distance run sprayed them with industrial-strength insecticide. The 60-year old teacher in Asahikawa, Hokkaido was carrying the spray to ward off bees, which have been known to attack children in similar situations in the past. During a rest period, he sprayed the six girls on their hair and chests. They were not seriously hurt but complained of irritated eyes, noses and throats. The teacher was quoted as saying "They were so cute, I did it to them as a joke." He has been told to stay home for three days. (September 09, 2002 )

JALT Elections
Voting for this year's JALT National Officer Elections began on September 4th and will continue until October 24th. A ballot card is attached to the inside front cover of the September, 2002 issue of The Language Teacher and voting is open to all JALT members. (September 07, 2002 )

Fukuoka-based Author Dies
We were saddened to hear of the death on August 30 of Christine Lee Chinen, a teacher for many years in Fukuoka. She was the author of "Christine's Easy English Conversation for Nurses" (Christine no Yasashii Kango Eikaiwa, Igaku Shoin) and "English-Live!" (Intercom Press). She was also an active member of the Fukuoka chapter of JALT and the JALT Materials Writers SIG. She taught for several years at Fukuoka University and had recently started teaching at Kyushu University. She is survived by her husband and two daughters. There is a brief profile on the Intercom Press web site. (September 06, 2002 )

Talking Trash in Taiwan
You may think your problem students talk trash, but that's nothing compared to Taiwan's talking rubbish trucks. Trucks in Tainan spew out phrases like "How are you?" and "I'm fine, thank you." as part of the southern city's efforts to internationalize. The mobile English lessons replaced the classical music that was previously used to call people to put out their rubbish. (September 05, 2002 )

New Online Service For Translators
TranNet, a translator placement company and subsidiary of ALC Press, is to launch an online service for translators of English books. Many foreign publishers and copyright management companies are interested in cashing in on the recent boom in translated English books. In the last few years, titles such as the "Harry Potter" series and "Who Moved My Cheese" have topped the domestic best-sellers list. But translated books still only account for 7% of total annual publications in Japan. The new web site will allow foreign publishers to place a synopsis of their title and an evaluation of its market prospects (based on things like topicality and popular appeal), and translators will be able to access this and other information in Japanese. (September 04, 2002 )

Saudi English Plans Shelved
Saudi Arabia has cancelled plans (which we reported on June 24th) to introduce English language lessons at public elementary schools following fierce criticism from the kingdom's powerful religious community. The country's education ministry had begun preparing for the introduction of the classes in September, including training 300 local teachers, and was in the process of hiring 900 foreign teachers. But now the Committee for Educational Policy must wait for King Fahd to make a final decision. The king is expected to side with the conservative Islamic activists, who fear that religious education would be sidelined by English classes. A widespread network of private international schools, also under the supervision of the education ministry, already teaches in English. (September 03, 2002 )

Daily Yomiuri to Launch TOEIC TV Program
The Daily Yomiuri has announced the launch today of a new program aimed at improving viewer's TOEIC scores on its satellite channel G+. "TOEIC Goshinan with the Daily Yomiuri" is hosted by staff of the newspaper company, who present questions in a format similar to the test and offer easy-to-understand answers. The seven-minute show is broadcast twice daily with a weekly roundup at the weekend. (September 02, 2002 )

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