Global Issues - animal welfare, environment by Harumi Kimura
Language Education in Asia, 2014
Papers by Harumi Kimura
Language Education in Asia, Oct 29, 2014
The word "critical" has been around in linguistics and education since at least the 1970s, with t... more The word "critical" has been around in linguistics and education since at least the 1970s, with terms such as "critical linguistics" and "critical pedagogy" being used. Critical ELT in Action offers an example-rich explanation of how "critical" might be applied to English Language Teaching. The author, Graham Crookes, wastes no time, as the first paragraph of the introduction offers a definition of "critical" as applied to education as: [A] perspective on teaching, learning, and curriculum that doesn't take for granted the status quo, but subjects it to critique, creates alternative forms of practice, and does so on the basis of radical theories of language, the individual, and society that take seriously our hopes for improvement in the direction of goals such as liberty, equality, and justice for all. (p. 1) The three goals that Crookes highlights-liberty, equality, and justice-are appropriate in any context at any time. However, the book is particularly timely, as these goals are receiving increased attention, especially in the developing world, including Asia. For instance, social justice is now highlighted in UNESCO campaigns for education for sustainable development (UNESCO, 2012). Similarly, campaigns for environmental protection now speak of "green justice" (Asian Development Bank, 2012). Even with this international momentum for social change, Crookes appreciates that many of his readers may be reluctant to embrace a critical perspective in their work in ELT. Thus, he recommends small steps, even very small steps. To guide readers in taking these steps, the book raises many important points to consider when attempting critical ELT. This review is organized around a presentation of some of those points in the order in which they appear in the book.
jalt-publications.org
... b. Were the Tutsis in fear of revenge? c. How did Paul stay independent from both tribes? Fig... more ... b. Were the Tutsis in fear of revenge? c. How did Paul stay independent from both tribes? Figure 2. Recycling of high-frequency words between reading and listening activities Page 4. THE LANGUAGE TEACHER 33.6 t JUNE 2009 12 KIMURA & SSALI READERSL FORUM ...
, to the second Multilingual Workshops. In his talk, Professor Nation shared his expertise on how... more , to the second Multilingual Workshops. In his talk, Professor Nation shared his expertise on how to improve vocabulary learning in a language classroom. His main thesis is that language learning is vocabulary learning. He promoted a balanced approach to language teaching that he calls "four strands" and "linked skills activities." Professor Nation believes that a well-balanced language course should consist of four strands: meaning-focused input, meaning-focused output, language-focused learning, and fluency development. To develop language abilities, learners need to (a) receive and utilize large amounts of quality input through listening and reading (meaning-focused input) (MFI), (b) make use of ample chances to produce output through speaking and writing (meaning-focused output) (MFO), (c) deliberately learn language features such as pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and discourse organization (languagefocused learning) (LFL), and (d) increase fluency in the four skills of listening, reading, speaking, and writing (fluency development) (FD). Furthermore, these four strands should be given roughly the same amount of time on task and be integrated to fit together. Language teachers should make a plan to achieve a good balance among the four and, in this sense, planning is the most important job of the language teachers. Professor Nation also promoted implementing linked skills activities. Learners should be able to repeat language items such as words and multiword units, as well as grammar rules, in at least three different skill areas in a series of activities. For example, learners read a text and make a list of important ideas (reading). They then discuss their ideas with their partners or in groups (speaking) and write a summary of the text, organizing the main ideas (writing). Learners think through individually and negotiate for meaning collaboratively, repeating the same language features during the process. Here again, teachers need to make a thoughtful plan to integrate learning in the different skill areas.
アカデミア 文学 語学編, Jun 1, 2008
Language and Education, 2013
Ochs, E. and B.B. Schieffelin. 1984. “Language Acquisition and Socialization: Three Developmental... more Ochs, E. and B.B. Schieffelin. 1984. “Language Acquisition and Socialization: Three Developmental Stories and Their Implications.” In Culture Theory: Essays on Mind, Self, and Emotion, edited by R.A. Shweder and R.A. Levine, 276–320. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ortega, L. 2012. “Epistemological Diversity and Moral Ends of Research in Instructed SLA.” Language Teaching Research 16 (2): 206–226. Swain, M. 2006. “Languaging, Agency and Collaboration in Advanced Second Language Profiency.” In Advanced Language Learning: The Contribution of Halliday and Vygotsky, edited by H. Byrnes, 95–108. London: Continuum.
Jalt Journal, Nov 1, 2013
This article reports on creating a short and effective dictation test to stream students for clas... more This article reports on creating a short and effective dictation test to stream students for classroom purposes. The use of dictation for assessment has long been controversial in SLA. Some researchers have asserted that dictation can only assess word recognition and vocabulary knowledge in context while others insist that it can also be helpful in evaluating structural knowledge or syntactic parsing skills and thus used as an integrative test. Recent research has demonstrated that a dictation test can measure both bottom-up and top-down listening skills—i.e., basic listening proficiency—and can be a valid, reliable, assessment tool (Cai, 2012). For this study, a six-minute partial dictation test was developed, administered, and scored for statistical analyses to demonstrate that such a test, which classroom teachers can create with reasonable ease, can be of good quality: The Rasch person reliability estimate was .94. I provide ten suggestions for making a short and efficient parti...
Incivilities are words and actions that may be perceived as impolite. This article reports a stud... more Incivilities are words and actions that may be perceived as impolite. This article reports a study of perceptions of and experiences with incivilities during group activities in English class. Participants were 119 students at a women’s university in Japan. They completed the Pair/Groupwork Incivility Scale, a Japanese-language instrument, which asked participants to rate 17 behaviors as to how uncivil the behaviors are and how frequently they had experienced the behaviors. The results suggested that the average severity of uncivil behaviors was significantly negatively correlated with the reported average frequency of these uncivil behaviors. Limitations of the current study and suggestions for future research are discussed.
This paper explores how L2 intolerance of ambiguity (L2 ITA) is related to other types of intoler... more This paper explores how L2 intolerance of ambiguity (L2 ITA) is related to other types of intolerance of ambiguity constructs: intolerance of uncertainty (ITC), intolerance of interpersonal ambiguity (interpersonal ITA), and intolerance of intercultural ambiguity (intercultural ITA). First, 207 Japanese university students participated in a study and took a survey, which consisted of four intolerance of ambiguity scales. The four constructs were found to correlate with each other, although to different degrees. The results of regression analyses demonstrated that only ITC significantly predicted L2 ITA, indicating that learners who were less tolerant of uncertainty could become less tolerant of ambiguity in L2 situations. Second, seven students attended a think aloud session followed by a short interview. The data revealed that interpersonal and intercultural ambiguities as well as linguistic ambiguity are inherent in L2 situations. Future studies on L2 ITA should take a comprehensi...
This is a preliminary case study of the challenges learners face when engaged in listening tasks ... more This is a preliminary case study of the challenges learners face when engaged in listening tasks in L2. I explore this issue in light of Flow Theory (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990; Csikszentmihalyi & Csikszentmihalyi, 1989) and discuss what can be optimal learning experiences in this specific language-learning activity to see if the theory could provide language learners and teachers with fruitful insights into learners’ thoughts and emotions. It is also suggested that extensive listening (EL) might not be taken as a simple application of the idea of extensive reading (ER) to the listening domain. I make use of the interview data of the two successful learners and investigate the legitimacy of the four dimensions in the state of ‘flow’ that Egbert (2003) advocated. The learners, who experienced a voluntary listening class for two semesters, talked about their task engagement. Their comments suggest that these dimensions should be refined to accommodate both analytical and holistic approach...
Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal
In this article, I argue that a self-access center (SAC) should be able to foster group autonomy,... more In this article, I argue that a self-access center (SAC) should be able to foster group autonomy, although SACs were originally developed for individually autonomous L2 learning experiences—i.e., each student studying L2 on his or her own. Along with offering learning materials and chances for individual self-study, a SAC should provide opportunities for building and maintaining a learner community. The data obtained by a narrative frame and subsequent e-mail correspondence demonstrated that active users often come to SACs to do homework and prepare for classes. They are happy to work together and have opportunities to make friends with students in different classes and in different year groups—i.e., mutual peer support is vital. Fun activities for establishing rapport and boosting L2 learning motivation are worth implementing. Learner autonomy ultimately involves interdependence between learners in a well-functioning learner community, and for this purpose a SAC can and should be a...
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Global Issues - animal welfare, environment by Harumi Kimura
Papers by Harumi Kimura