Meeting Reports

Yamanishi’s comment that he does not so much teach English as teach through English is well borne out in his exploitation of English newspapers in education (E.N.I.E.) to stimulate interesting classroom conversation practice. He led us through an introduction and sampling of a wide variety of exercises, interspersed with explanations and observations of the particular language of this medium, such as the fact that answers to Wh question words can usually be found in the lead line and that verbs are always in the present tense, with the be verb omitted in passive constructions.

The flu pandemic is currently topical, with plenty written about it, from which can be gleaned answers to the questions, “When do we have Stage Six?” and “When did we have Stage Six?” as well as an appreciation of how the meaning changes completely with the verb tense. The TV schedule pages invite questions about what’s on, when, and how many weather programs there are in the mornings. Among the input welcomed from the audience was a suggestion that students might try to guess the content of some programs from their titles—increasing awareness of immigrants about what is available to watch in their new country.

Why were there three photos of dogs on one page? And why was one photo bigger than the others? (Maybe because it was President Obama’s dog.) In the before and after picture of the Hiroshima Dome, how was the before photo produced in color? (Computer graphics.) Why translate “Okuribito” as “Departures”? A picture of a little girl whose parents have been deported from Japan leads to expression of differing opinions of the judge's decision.

In groups we memorized sections of Obama’s inaugural address and then performed them—which was fun, as it probably is in class. In fact, the whole evening was a good indication of how Professor Yamanishi has been stimulating English language practice for over a decade.