The Latest News in ELT

March 2005

English Minus the Cultural Baggage
Learning English from native speakers can lead to crises of cultural identity, according to a Burmese academic. The issue was the main topic of discussion in an interview by the Daily Yomiuri's Ginko Kobayashi with Bhaskaran Nayar of the British Lincoln University, who has written extensively about language and power and trained teachers worldwide. He talks about how students who learn from British or American teachers are often compelled to use body language or adopt attitudes that go against the grain of their own culture. He encourages Japanese learners of English not to be too hung up on the idea of being like a native speaker; but rather to be proud of their own ways of communicating, to speak English "with all one's own inherited identity."
English belongs to whole world (link will expire) (March 30, 2005 )

Please Teach Me English
Most westerners in Japan will have heard that request in one form or another. Meanwhile, the English-learning boom that hit Japan in the 1990s is now at full tilt in South Korea. "Please Teach Me English" is the title of well-received romantic comedy movie based in a beginners class at one of the country's growing number of English schools. It tells of young local government employee Na Young Ju (Lee Na Young), who hates English but is "recommended" to study after a speechless encounter with an expat at the city office, and Park Moon Su (Jang Hyeok), a shoe-store clerk and playboy who wants to use English for picking up girls and speaking to his sister in America. Na falls for Park on day one, but he only has eyes for the beautiful teacher, Cathy (Australian actress Angela Kelly). The lightweight comedy is directed by Kim Seong Su, better known for action flicks, who says he made the film as his revenge on English. Despite putting a lot of time and money into studying the language, he failed to master it. The film will be shown here with Japanese subtitles from April 16. ()

Japanese Students' English Ability Improving
According to a recent survey, the English ability of Japanese students has improved noticeably over the last year. Benesse Corp. carried out the survey based on test results of several thousand students from Japan, South Korea and China who took part in the Global Test of English Communication between October and December last year. Looking at the results of Japanese second-year high school students, the average score was 440 out of a maximum 800, an increase of about 10%, or 40 points, over their results of the year before. Students in China and South Korea also showed improvement though less than their Japanese counterparts. The average score of South Korean students was up 27 points from the previous year, while Chinese students saw a 24-point increase.

However, when it came to self-evaluation, it was quite a different picture. When asked to evaluate their own English ability, Japanese students related it to their test scores and said they had little experience of real-world English. But Chinese and Korean students were much more likely to look at their practical ability -- speaking English on the telephone or surfing the Internet in English -- than their test scores and were generally more confident in their English ability despite having lower scores.

The survey also compared the scores of students at government-designated Super English Language High Schools with those at ordinary schools. The SELHi students averaged a 73-point increase in the scores, compared to a 34-point increase in other schools. (March 28, 2005 )

Education UK Day in Osaka
The British Council's Osaka office is hosting an education fair for people who wish to study in Britain. The fair will run from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on April 3 and will be held at the Osaka office in Kita Ward. As part of Education UK Day, participants will be able to discuss study plans with representatives of some 30 universities and other institutions. Sessions will be conducted in Japanese or with Japanese interpretations. Participation fee is free and reservations are not required. The venue is on the fourth floor of the Dojima Avanza building, which is a five-minute walk from Nishi Umeda subway station. For more information, call the Osaka office at (06) 6342-5301, or e-mail.

The fair will also offer a wide array of information for people simply interested in Britain, or who have already chosen their study destination. It will include a series of seminars on life and study in Britain and on IELTS (International English-Language Testing System) tests, as well as discussions with Japanese people who have studied in Britain. ()

Breaking the Link Between English, Values
Mike Guest's latest Indirectly Speaking column in today's Daily Yomiuri is an interesting challenge to the widely-held view that language is inextricably bound up with culture. English, with its clear-cut sentence subjects, is often thought of as being tied to a self-centered world view. Japanese, in comparison, is much more vague and subjects and pronouns are often inferred. But does this "lead to" the Japanese culture being group-oriented or lacking self-centeredness? Guest thinks not and uses some interesting analogies to illustrate his point.
Learn English; change your values? (link will expire) (March 25, 2005 )

Dr. Voice from Seiko
Seiko Instruments is to release a new tool for English language learners. The Dr. Voice neo SV-E1100 is a handheld device loaded with software to help students preparing for the TOEIC test. Users can choose from three SD software cards aimed at lower, intermediate (600 points) and advanced-level (730 points) students. With a touchscreen and headphones, users can do practice exercises and listen to words being pronounced. Genius E-J and J-E dictionaries are also included. It goes on sale in late April and retails for ¥48,000. ()

SELHi/English Forum 2005 this Weekend
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology will hold the SELHi Forum 2005 and English Forum 2005 this Friday and Saturday in Tokyo. The former will feature reports from the first Super English Language High Schools following completion of their 3-year research programs. Saturday's event will focus on the situation concerning the implementation of measures from the government's Action Plan to Cultivate "Japanese with English Abilities". These forums will also provide an opportunity for participants such as education-related personnel and members of the business world to exchange opinions about concrete measures for the further improvement of English education.

Schedule: 1. Friday, March 25 (9:30-17:30 – Reception from 9:00)
2. Saturday, March 26 (10:00-17:00 – Reception from 9:30)
Venue: International Conference Room, Tokyo Big Sight, 3-21-1 Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo
SELHi Forum 2005 - more information (PDF file)
English Forum 2005 - more information (PDF file) (March 21, 2005 )

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!
Over the next few days, there will be a series of parades and other events around Japan to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day, the Irish national holiday. The biggest will be the 14th annual Saint Patrick's Day parade along Omotesando in Tokyo on Sunday, March 20. This is the only event for which the major shopping thoroughfare is closed off. Festivities kick off at 2pm. See the Irish Network Japan web site for details of this and other parades across the country.
Irish Network Japan web site (March 17, 2005 )

Aeon Launches IP Phone Eikaiwa
Yesterday, Aeon Net Communications announced a tie-up with NTT Communications and Telepark to launch a new English language teaching service delivered by IP telephone. Using NTT Com's "Dot Phone Personal V" service, students with broadband access can take English lessons at home using Aeon's "IP Phone Live Lesson." The 25-minute private lessons are with native English-speaking teachers provided by Aeon, one of the country's major eikaiwa school chains. Aeon has been providing online group lessons and writing classes since last September on its Aeon Net Live Lesson web site. The new service, which was launched on March 16, is currently available only for the Windows OS.
Aeon Net Live Lesson web site ()

Gaba Arrives in Nagoya
Gaba, the Tokyo-based English school chain that specializes in "man-to-man" lessons, has announced the opening date of its first school in the Chubu region. The school will open in the Sakae district of Nagoya on April 23. Together with the January opening of its first school in Kansai, the new Sakae Learning Studio signals Gaba's expansion to become a nationwide chain. Until this year, the company's 26 schools have all been in and around the capital. ()

RIC Publishes Princess Aiko's Favorite Picture Book
One of the biggest sensations in the picture book world in Japan is "Who's Behind Me?" (Ushiro ni Iru no Daare?), which makes it debut in English this week. The book sold in huge numbers after it became known as the favorite of Princess Aiko, daughter of the Crown Prince. Local sales have already topped a staggering quarter of million copies in just 18 months - Japanese distributors class a picture book that has sold 10,000 copies in a year as a best seller. John Moore, president of RIC Publications, which has been putting out many of the biggest picture books available in Japan in English for the last 18 months, described getting this book added to their list as "a real joy." He added, "Every bookstore in Japan that carries picture books has this title, which is an achievement in itself and there has been a true buzz about the English edition being released. Our advance trade orders have been exceptionally healthy on this title, which bodes well as the demand is there and we are hoping for good things to happen. The English version is being released early in Japan with international release over the course of the next few months." Author Toshio Fukuda was originally rejected by all the major publishers for his first book, and was finally accepted by a very small publisher, Shinpusha, which in turn happened to send a copy to the Royal family.
RIC Publications picture books (March 16, 2005 )

Parents For, Teachers Against Early English Education
The majority of parents want to see English introduced to the primary school curriculum, but more than 60% of teachers are against the idea. The education ministry revealed at a meeting of the Central Council for Education on Friday the results of a survey carried out last June which polled parents and teachers of 4th and 6th graders at 230 public elementary schools nationwide. While only 36.6% of teachers were in favor of making English part of the curriculum, that figure rose to 53.4% of school principals. Among parents, the figure was 70.7%. The most common reason cited by both parents and teachers in favor of the idea was that children would feel less resistance to English through exposure at an early age. Also mentioned was the belief that an early start would mean better pronunciation. The main reason given for opposition to the idea was that adding English to the curriculum would adversely affect the study of other core subjects. 22.4% of teachers said that there are too few teachers who can teach English in primary schools. (March 14, 2005 )

OUP, Macmillan Take ELT 'Oscars'
Oxford University Press and Macmillan Education were the big winners at this year's Elton Awards, ELT's equivalent of the Oscars, which were announced recently. OUP won two of the three British Council-sponsored awards with publications for children's ELT: 'Three in a Tree,' by Vanessa Reilly, a series of course materials for pre-school children; and 'Assessing Young Learners,' by Pavlos Pavlou and Sophie Loannou-Georgiou, the first book on assessing children in EFL learning. Macmillan won for its 'Campaign' coursebooks, written by Simon Mellor-Clark and David Riley and designed for soldiers working on peacekeeping missions. Campaign also won last year's Duke of Edinburgh award. ()

ELS, JTB Tie Up to Promote International Exchange
English education company ELS Japan have tied up with Japan Travel Bureau (JTB), the country's largest travel agency, to promote international exchanges between universities and colleges in Japan and abroad. The two companies have launched the "New International Exchange Activation Program," a comprehensive service that includes support for Japanese institutions wishing to form international ties, and internships at universities in the US, Canada and the UK. Though there are many existing ties between academics in Japan and abroad, they are often between individuals and it is difficult to expand such relationships to the entire faculty. Other barriers to a successful exchange include lack of cultural understanding and concerns for student safety. With the recent privatisation of Japan's national universities and a growing need to be competitive, new international programs are seen as one way to continue to attract students. ELS Japan, based in Tokyo, provides English education and study abroad programs at its Language Centers. It launched ELS Premier, a new full-time, intensive, 5-week course, on March 7.
ELS Japan (Japanese) (March 11, 2005 )

Principle of Language Skill Transfer
In his latest Practical Linguist column in today's Daily Yomiuri, Marshall R. Childs looks at what he calls the "transfer principle." This is the idea that developing strength in one language skill (reading, writing, speaking, listening) leads to an improvement in the other areas. He cites examples such as a young Japanese student who made great strides in all aspects of his English as a result of forcing himself to translate a guidebook using a dictionary. He also discusses the neurological background to how the brain uses overlapping networks to process different but interconnected aspects of language, and the compensatory skills developed by deaf or blind people.
Principle of language skill transfer (link will expire) ()

Educator Cites Effectiveness of Non-traumatic Learning
Physician, educator and linguist, Dr. Daniel S. Janik recently announced the development of a unified, 'effective' learning theory based on his special theory of neurologically-based language acquisition. He says that advanced medical imaging technology has allowed the development of a new style of teaching that is set to shake "the very foundations of education." According to Dr. Janik, TOEFL and University Studies Coordinator at the Intercultural Communications College in Hawaii, Neurobiological Learning (NL) theory is "the crowning result of two centuries of collective philosophical, medical, clinical and classroom work." Central to the new theory is the idea that traditional teaching methods, using a rigid curriculum or daily lesson plan, is often "traumatic" for students and leads to a "lack of creative zest." NL, says Janik, allows for "curiosity-based, discovery-driven, mentor-assisted, transformational learning."
Press release: Brain-based Learning Likely to Revamp Education (March 08, 2005 )

Got English Indigestion?
In her latest humor column in the Japan Times, Amy Chavez looks at the possible use of "punctuation soup" for English language teaching. Her less than serious suggestion follows an observation of how the Japanese version of Animal Crackers actually have the names of the animals written on them in English. The idea of learning "all about punctuation by ingesting it" stems from her frustration in trying to teach the correct and restrained use of things like exclamation marks, semi-colons and ellipses.
Get! Strunk & White's punctuation soup (March 07, 2005 )

Korea's Flawed "Hagwon" System
South Korean young people suffer from the same sorts of pressure from parents to study - both in school and after - as their Japanese counterparts, perhaps even more so. And the study of English is no exception, according to an article from Yonhap News. The article describes the "hagwon" system, similar to Japanese juku, which is one of the more popular sources of extra-curricular English-language education. These private academies are coming under incresingly critical media attention for the perceived poor quality of their native speaking teachers, who were portrayed in one recent TV show as "an assortment of high-school dropouts, losers, drug peddlers and pedophiles." The article also highlights some cases of teachers who have fallen foul of their hagwon or the "murky (legal) distinction between legal and illegal teachers."
South Koreans' Zeal for English Leads to Abuse of 'Hagwon' System (March 04, 2005 )

Teaching in Japan Can Boost Your Resumé
Thinking of teaching for a year in Japan but worried that it might not look good on your resumé? Well, Shell Canada CFO Cathy Williams doesn't think so. According to an article in the Globe and Mail, Ms. Williams said in a speech to Women in Capital Markets that "there is nothing wrong with having a lot of travel and several job changes on a resumé. Even at the entry level, Ms. Williams said “it resonates” with her if a candidate has taken a year off after university to teach English in Japan."
Diversity efforts paying off: Shell CFO (March 03, 2005 )

Nichii Gakkan Moves into Day Care
Nichii Gakkan, a major company in the medical office and nursing-care business, aims to set up about eight licensed day care centers offering extended hours of service by the end of 2006, company officials said. The first facility opened Tuesday in Tokyo's Minato Ward. Open until 10 p.m., it can accommodate up to 40 children. Charges range from ¥50,400 to ¥64,800, depending on the age of the child, for 180 hours of supervision per month. There will also be programs for 220 and 260 hours of service. The centers will sometimes have the children play with senior citizens who use the company's nursing care services, and English lessons will also be available. (Nihon Keizai Shimbun) ()

Not the Queen's English
Newsweek recently ran a feature on the global boom in learning English as a second or foreign language, particularly in developing countries. Within a decade, about half the world's population will be speaking English, and non-native speakers already outnumber native speakers 3 to 1. Leading this growth are countries such as India and China, with their massive populations and desire to compete in the global marketplace. The influence of these millions of new learners and their various mother tongues is changing the very nature of English itself.
Not the Queen's English (March 02, 2005 )

JALT2005 Submissions
Recently, a number of people have been having problems accessing the JALT website. As the deadline for submissions for the conference was yesterday (Feb 28), we want to ensure that everyone had the opportunity to submit. For those people having problems submitting a proposal to present at JALT2005, an alternative submissions form has been set up at: http://www.jalt-publications.org/submissions/.

Please only use this page as a last resort as it has no connection to the JALT2005 database. Data submitted from this page will need to be manually inputted. Also, only use this page for normal submissions. Unvetted submissions (deadline March 31) should use the normal site -- hopefully the access issues will be resolved by that time. Please pass this information on to any person or group that may be affected. -- Malcolm Swanson, JALT2005 Programme Chair
JALT web site (March 01, 2005 )

Download English Center Shiken Test
Teachers of high school students may be interested to read the latest English test given as part of the recent public university entrance exams (popularly known as the Center Shiken). The test can be downloaded from this site as a PDF file (requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software program).
Center Shiken English Test 2005 (672kb) ()

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