The Latest News in ELT

December 2002

Nobel Laureates Survive English "Test"
Japanese scientists Koichi Tanaka and Masatoshi Koshiba gave commemorative speeches in English this week at Stockholm University prior to the Nobel awards ceremony held yesterday. Tanaka in particular has won many fans in Japan with his shy demeanour, dislike of the limelight and struggles with English. After his 40-minute speech, he sighed deeply at a press conference and explained, "Maybe more than 20 times I practiced for this lecture, just for this lecture." He said. "So do not think I can speak English very well. I do not want to speak English anymore." (December 11, 2002 )

Sma Station Smash
"Bera Bera Book Vol.1", the book of English phrases based on the Saturday night TV Asahi "Sma Station" show has become a million seller. The show features a segment in which Shingo Katori, a member of pop group SMAP, is tested on his rote memorization of English phrases in a head-to-head with the weekly guests. Newsreaders and actors who have worked abroad have tended to do quite well. The English quiz segment is narrated by Kobayashi Katsuya, a DJ and presenter of English language education shows. Expressions such as "Too bad!" and "Perfect bera-bera!" (perfect fluency!) have become familiar catch-phrases among viewers of all ages. The book has been in the bestsellers Top 10 for several months. (December 10, 2002 )

Parents More Worried About Kids' Education
A survey by Benesse reported in the Asahi Shimbun shows that recent curriculum and schedule changes to ease the pressure on students have not reassured parents. In the survey of about 5,000 Tokyo parents of children between 1st and 9th grade, more than half said they were concerned or very concerned about their children's academic progress. The figures were 46% for elementary school students and 59% for junior high schoolers, both up several points from the last survey in 1998. The numbers were similar for those who felt their children needed to go to juku (cram school). On the other hand, the number of parents who were satisfied if their children were "enjoying school life regardless of grades", or were getting good enough grades to "get by in the future" were both down. (December 09, 2002 )

Mystery Still Surrounds Berlitz Origins
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Maximillian D. Berlitz (1852-1921), founder of one of the world's most famous English schools. Prussian-born to a family of teachers and mathematicians, he was highly intelligent and was fluent in more than a dozen languages. At least, that's what the official Berlitz history says. But it seems the company he founded is perpetuating a veil of mystery that the man himself created about his true origins. It was only in recent years that his real date of birth was discovered. A family relative claims that he was actually born David Berlizheimer, the son of a Jewish religious teacher, near the Black Forest in Southern Germany; and that he arrived in the US, a poor 18-year old emigrant and quickly went about creating a new persona for himself. When asked for a comment on the claims, a Berlitz representative replied, "We are neither in a position to refute or validate this story and thus, will continue to publish the company history as it has been presented for the past 125 years." Read more about the "New Berlitz Story." (December 06, 2002 )

Bilingual School to Open in Gunma
The city of Ota in Gunma Prefecture, one of the government-assigned "special reform zones", is to open a school in 2004 that will teach almost all subjects in English. Lessons other than those such as Japanese, Japanese History and Social Studies will be taught by native English-speaking teachers. The plan is to open a pre-school in mid-2003 to help future elementary school students get accustomed to English. After that, 30 students divided into two classes will move through elementary, junior and senior high school in the bilingual system. Ota Mayor Masayoshi Shimizu has based the plan on a school in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture which started a similar system from the kindergarten level in 1992. He has been studying their use of textbooks and how they hire teachers. (December 05, 2002 )

Japanese Delegates to Join UN-style Youth Conference
The Daily Yomiuri reported on a group of students at Kumon Kokusai Junior-Senior High School in Yokohama, who are to take part in The Hague International Model United Nations next month. The conference dates back to 1968, but this group will be the first Japanese to participate. The students have to draw up policy statements, lobby and debate with 3,000 other students from about 200 schools in more than 50 countries -- and all in English. Aged 15 to 17, most are returnees, but the level of English required is still quite a challenge. Ayami Kojima, 16, who lived for three years in Singapore, said: "It is difficult as we have to do these things in English, but more importantly, I keenly felt how I lacked common knowledge of world affairs." (December 04, 2002 )

Publisher to Go Public, Enter ELT Market
Publishing company Gentosha yesterday announced plans to list on the Jasdaq over-the-counter market, perhaps as soon as January. The company aims to increase its profile and reputation among the general public as it diversifies into providing content for practical use, such as English-teaching materials. The 40-strong company, established in 1993, had sales of 7 billion yen last year. (December 03, 2002 )

More Classroom Chaos
The Mainichi Daily News this weekend reported two separate cases of things getting out of hand in the classroom. The first story concerned a 14-year old student in Narashino, Chiba Prefecture who hospitalized a 43-year old teacher with broken ribs. The student walked into the teacher's class and sat on the floor, refusing to leave. When the teacher enlisted the help of two male colleagues, the boy reacted violently. The teacher filed charges after he was discharged from hospital and the boy was arrested last week. The second story involved a Sakata, Yamagata Prefecture teacher who had trouble with a pair of disruptive sixth-grade students. After being told to sit on the floor, the elementary schoolers continued to talk and ignore the teacher. He then gagged and tied them to a chair with adhesive tape. Neither student was hurt. "Perhaps this exceeds the limits of discipline, I think," Noboru Ikeda, a board of education spokesman, said. "We want to learn more about what happened before we decide how to handle it." (December 02, 2002 )

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