Welcome to Gami's Blog !!!

Graduation Thesis ★ June 6

2007-06-05T21:35:00.001-07:00

There were some English songs in New Horizon!!

We can approach pronunciation through music. There are obvious parallels between music and lauguage: both use rhythm and pitch changes to express meaning.

Music plays with sounds to produce pleasure, helps to overcome self-consciousnss, and can activate other abilities which can in turn consciousness, and can activate other abilities which can in turn help to activate liguistic capacity.

We need to choose music our students will respond to easily for a start, expanding our selection as we go, catering for all our students and opening up their sonic world and their minds.

Graduation Thesis ★ June

2007-06-05T20:59:00.000-07:00

How much pronunciation work should we do?

Pronunciation should always be at the back of our mind. Be ready to steer our leanrers when necessary, and weave the activities into the fabric of our lessons. Many of the actvities will only take 5-10 minutes. It is important that we do not allow mistakes to become fossilized with beginners, but correcting too much and too overtly is counter-productive.

pronunciation is not something the teacher can instil in learners; it is something the learners assimilate for themselves. As a teacher we are the initiator, but respect our learners' choices and encourage them to have a personal agenda for development and to express their feelings. Develop their autonomy by suggesting they can and should work on their own, at home and in the wider world. Finally, welcome initiative and listen carefully to any ideas they may have about their progress.

Even if we have too little time to do pronunciation exercises using Sound Box, consider that most of the activities are short and can be integrated with other work in class. Most of them are simple and fun. We will probably find that 10 minutes spent on one of these at the begining of or during a lesson will not only result in a great improvement in our learners' pronunciation, but willalso have a positive effect on their attitude to the language and how they relate to the group.

Graduation Thesis ★ June 6

2007-06-05T19:56:00.000-07:00

What makes learners believe they will not be able to pronunce English well?

People from some language backgrounds think it is unimaginable for people from their culture to pronunce English well, and this is often reinforced by prejudices and streotypes. Atually I had a streotype that Japanese cannot achieve good English pronunciation compared with Scandinavian and Dutch people. The differences that contrastive studies bring to light between the mother tongue and English will only reinforce this conviction , even in teachers. This can adversely affect divelopment of learners from these countries, even if they come acoss people who provide the contrary. Though there may be some apparently objective reasons for the learners' problems, they don't provide sufficient explanation for the lack of success. Near-similarity can be just as much a problem as great differences. In the end, the most important single factor is the leanrers themselves.

Another common belief, which is sometimes presented as an axiom of psychology, is that after certain age good ponunciatioon of a foreigh language can no longer be achieved. Even junior high school students they sometimes seem to give up to have good speaking skill and pronunciation of English since they started learning English from junior high school and only hope to be able to survive in English tests for entrance examinations. Whatever truth there may be in this, it is also true that many people who start learning a foreigh language after elementary school manage to achieve execellent pronunciation . The problems of those who appear to be incapable of doing so may simply be due to the self-consciousness that comes with ages and not to age itself.

Also junior high school students seems to feel rediculous producing `strange` sounds, or they may feel they look awful. This inhibits them; they avoid speaking and cannot develop a frame of mind that allows them to use their full potential. As the years go by they become convinced that for them `English is simply impossible to pronunce`.

So teachers neet to be up against, prejudice, myth, and belief that all efforts will be hopeless. All these - and there are can be as many different and compounded problems as there are learners - need to be tackled in order to help learners with pronunciation.

Reference:
Laroy, C. (1995). Pronunciation. Oxford English

Graduation Thesis ★ June 6

2007-06-05T18:51:00.000-07:00

Why do we need to teach pronunciaiton?

Almost all English laguage teachers get students to study grammar and vocabulary, practise functional dialogues, take part in productive skills, and become competent in listening and reading. Yet some of the same teachers make little attempt teach pronunciation in any overt way and only give attention to it in passing. It is possible that they are nervous of dealing with sounds and intonation; perhaps they feel they have too much to do already and pronunciation teaching will only make things worse. They may claim that even without a formal pronunciation syllabbus, and without specific pronunciation teaching, many students seem to acquire　serviceable ponunciatin in the course of their studies.

However, the fact that some students aｒe able to acquire resonable pronunciation without overt pronunciation teaching should not blind us to the benefit of a focus on pronunciation in our lessons. Pronunciation teaching not only makes students awere of different sounds and sound features, but can also improve their speaking immeasurably. Concentrating on sounds, showing where where they are made in the mouth, making students aware of where wods should be stresses - all these things give them extra information about spoken English and help them achieve the goal of improved comprehension and intelligibility.

In some particular cases pronunciation help allows students get over serious intelligibility problems. I had taken English courses called English as a second language in the United States and the professor was able to help Cantonese, Korean, Japanese speakers of English achieve considerably greater intelligibility by working on our point of articulation. With other language groups it maybe a problem of the degree to whichspeakers do or do not open their mouths. Other language groups may have trouble with intonation o stress patterns in phrases and sentenses, and there are many individual sounds wchich cause diffeiculty for different first language speakers.

For all peaple, being made aware of pronunciation issues will be of immense benefit not only to their own production, but also to their own understanding of spoken English. Of course for Japanese junior high school English learners teaching pronunciation is very beneficial.

Referece：
Harmer, J. (2004). The Practice of English Language Teaching. Longman.

Graduation Thesis ☆ May 30

2007-05-29T20:15:00.000-07:00

What results do I expect???

Teachers may not teach Sound Box.
I think some of the English teachers don't teach pronunciation using Sound Box. When I did student teaching I skipped teaching Sound Box as well since I didnt have enough time to teach it. Also, I felt teaching Sound Bow was a little bit difficult since I didnt have confident in my ability of pronunciation.

Students may hesitate to read the sentences like native speakers.
When I teach English at cram school, a lot of students hesitate to pronunce English like native speakers. I think some of them are too shy to speak English like English. I think they might do well for intonation, linking, and pause, but I think it might be hard for them to pronunce "r", "th", and "v" correctly.

Graduation Thesis ★ May 30

2007-05-15T20:24:00.000-07:00

My methodology for the research.

I'm going to evaluate the pronunciation sections using my rubric.
Also I'm going to give a small reading text to students and see how they pronunce the sentences and how they mastered Sound Box.

[Reading Test]
I want to give a reading test to 10 9th grade students I teach English at the cram school from different junior high school.

1) Check Point
Segmental phoneme
Linking
Accent, Stress, Rhythm
Intonation
Pause

2) Examples of the reading test

A: Which do you like better, vegetables or meat ?
B: I like vegetables. How about you?
A: Me, too. I eat a lot of vegetables. Can you eat tomatos? I want to make a tomato cake to welcome you to our house.
B: That's great. Thank you.

Linking: about you [NH2SB3], lot of[NH2SB1], can you[NH2SB1]
accent, stress, rhythm: 質問内容に対する答えの強調 [NH2SB2],
Intonation: 疑問文の音調（A or B？） [NH1SB3], 疑問文の音調[NH1SB1]
Pause: コンマ前の区切り、不定詞の副詞用法の前での区切り[NH2SB4]
segmental phoneme: "v, th, r"の発音[NH2SB5], "tomato, cake"の発音

3) questionnaire
- When did you start learning English?
- Do you go to English Conversation school?
- Does your school English teacher teach Sound Box?
- Do you like learning English?
- Do you want to speak English like native speakers?
- How do you practice pronunciation at school?
- How do you practice pronunciation at home? ... etc

Graduation Thesis ★ May 9

2007-05-09T05:33:00.000-07:00

My Rubric
1) Segmental phoneme
2) Linking
3) Accent, Stress, Rhythm
4) Intonation
5) Pause

I decided to use these rubrics to evaluate Sound Box. Because I read a couple books and every book mentioned almost the same areas of pronunciation.

Graduation Thesis ★　May 9, 2007

2007-05-08T19:47:00.000-07:00

What are different areas of pronunciaton?

学習指導要領
・　現代の標準的な発音(segmental phoneme)
・　語と語の連結による音の変化(linking, Assimilation, Elision, weakening)
・　語、句、文における基本的な強勢(accent, stress, rhythm)
・　文における基本的なイントネーション(inotnation)
・　文における基本的な区切り(pause)

渡辺和幸(1994). 英語のリズム・イントネーション指導. 大修館書店
・　文の区切り方(pause)
・　語、句の強勢(accent)
・　文強勢とノーマル・ストレス(stress)
・　強勢移動と音声変化(stress, linking)
・　リズムとイントネーション(rhythm, intonation)

畑中考實・久松豊（1997）.　最新英語教育法. 成美堂
・　個々の音の正確な発音に慣れること
・　機能語の弱形に慣れる
・　内容語の弱形節
・　同化作用
・　無声化と有声化
・　Stress, rhytm, intonation

Hewing, M.(2004) Pronunciation Practice Activities. Cambridge
Higher priority features of proninciation to teach
・ Consonants　
・ Consonant clusters
・ Vowel length (ex. tins, teens)
・ Word Stress (ex. BABYsit, babySIT)
・ Tonic words (ex. A: Was it expensive? B: QUITE expensive.)
Lower Priority features of pronunciation teach
・ The exacy shape of vowels
・ Weak and strong forms
・ Using features of connected speech
・ Tones
・ The overall pitch of the voice

岡秀夫・赤池秀代・酒井志延（2004）. A Manual for Improving the Teaching Ability of English Teachers. 大修館書店
・単音：　母音、子音、子音の連続
・音声変化：　連続(Linking)、同化(Assimilation)、脱落(elision)、弱化(weakening)
・プロソディー：　文強勢、リズム、イントネーション

Graduation Thesis ★ May 9, 2007

2007-05-08T19:30:00.000-07:00

Linking リンキング
NH1SB5(p97): get up, did you, went to, at two
NH2SB1(p9): gave it, lot of, can you, get it
NH2SB3(p27): want to, use it, could you, read it, about you
NH3SB3(p25): don't you, could you, did you

Pause 区切り
NH2SB4(p45): 接続詞の前、副詞句後
NH3SB2(p17): 不定詞の副詞的用法前、従属節（コンマ）後、接続詞の前

Graduation Thesis ★　May 9, 2007

2007-05-08T18:31:00.000-07:00

New Horizon 1 's Sound Box
SB1(p31): 疑問文の音調（be動詞＆一般動詞の疑問文）
SB2(p55): 疑問文の音調（疑問詞で始まる疑問文）
SB3(p71): 疑問文の音調 (A or B?)
SB4(p89): 文における強勢　リズム
SB5(p97)：リンキング

※その他、New Horizon1でのみ、基本練習の項目で●印で強勢を表している。

New Horizon 2's Sound Box
SB1(p9): リンキング
SB2(p17): 文における強勢　
SB3(p27): リンキング
SB4(p45): 文の区切り
SB5(p55): Tongue Twister/ f&v, s&amp;-, t&-
SB6(p63): 母音の発音???
SB7(p81): 音調???

New Horizon3's Sound Box
SB1(p9): 文における強勢　リズム
SB2(p17): 文の区切り
SB3(p25): リンキング
SB4(p45): 台詞文後の音調
SB5(p55)：聞き返す際の音調
SB6(p63)： thatの発音???

What I found out...
- In 7th grade New Horizon they don't use IPA.　They only use IPA in the end of the book.
- They don't teach how to pronunce "r" and "l".
- They changed how to teach rhythm from "ター" to "●".
- I thought they should teach the difference between denizen and English. (ex. ボタン vs. button)

Graduation Thesis ★ May 6

2007-05-06T06:27:00.000-07:00

1) My central question
"Which areas of pronunciation does the New Horizon Sound Box cover and what implications does this have for students' pronunciation development?"

2) Summary of the article I found this week
I found a really useful article called "発音教育をめぐる教育環境 -入門期の発音指導の現状" by 山本久仁子.
She investigated how the English textbooks (New Horizon, Total English, and One World English Course) of 7th grade deal with pronunciation and analyzed with 5 areas of pronunciation(Segmental Phoneme, Accent, Intonation, Pause, and Linking). She found that every textbook teaches the phoneme of each words well, but she figured that the teaching of suprasegmental phoneme is not enough for the English to communicate with foreign people. Each textbook have different approaches to teach intonation and stress, and especially New Horizon is making a new attack on the teaching the pronunciation.

3) How does this article relate to my thesis?
I want to investigate only about New Horizon becasue it is one of the most widely used textbook in Japan(it has a circulation of 2,000,000 in 1998). Also I want to analyze not only 7th grade but also 8th&9th grade textbooks to know how it teaches different areas of pronunciation in each grades. I still don't know how many areas of pronunciation I am going to use to analyze but I am sure the way she analyzed the textbooks will help my analysis.

Graduation　Paper　☆　April23, 2007

2007-04-23T05:54:00.000-07:00

How can we improve students' English pronunciation?
How can we motivate students to improve their pronunciation?
What kind of activities are effective to improve students' pronunciation?

Chicago

2007-02-12T06:40:00.000-08:00

Graduation Paper ★ Feb 12, 2007

2007-02-12T05:51:00.000-08:00

For my graduation research paper I have decided it would be interesting to write on the topic of ALT. More specifically, I would like to research the following:
-Can ALTs motivate students to study English?
-Do students like to talk with an ALT?
-Do students have opportunities to talk with an ALT inEnglish?
-How long does each student talk with an ALT in English on average?
-Do students have chances to talk with an ALT outside of the class?
-Can the communication with an ALT give studentsmotivation for studying English?
-Do students have chances to know about other cultures from ALTs?
With the results, I hope that I can suggest how we can devise classes effectively with an ALT, and how we can let students interact in intercultural communication with an ALT. Because I have not yet narrowed my interests and I am unsure whether my topic is appropriate, I have not been able to decide on a title. I appreciate your advice on whether or not my topic is appropriate for this paper. Please leave me any comments!!!

NCC volume9---September

2006-10-08T20:09:00.003-07:00

North Central College Fall term 2006 started from September 11, and now I am in third week so it is getting busier and busier with lots of homework. I am taking three classes this term; Interpersonal Communication, Chinese, and Human Geography.

First, Interpersonal Communication, this class combines lecture, discussion, reading, exercises, group activities, exams, and a term project: record an actual conversation and analyze using specific communication concepts and theories. Even though it is third week, I am sure this class helped me to advance my communication competence by developing increased sensitivity in interpreting and participating in interpersonal interaction.

Second, Chinese, there are two reasons I thought I want to start studying Chinese. One is because here in the United States many people can speak more than two languages so I felt like I want to study more languages to communicate the people from different countries. The other reason is because last year I met an exchange student from Taiwan and we became really good friends, so I became really interested in Taiwan and Chinese culture. This is still a 100 level class so we learn simple sentences and how to ask questions, but I want to keep studying in Iwate as well.

Third, Human Geography, this class exposes me to a new and exciting way of viewing the world which we live in and help me to better prepare for the world stage. Last week we joined the activity called “invisible children”: Some college students from San Diego made this organization for the children who are sacrificed for the dispute in Sudan. We watched the movie they made and listened to the story about their experiences. Actually I was really surprised that college students started this organization and they are really helping the children by selling DVDs, giving them the opportunities to work in Sudan, and giving educational opportunities. I did not even know where Sudan is. I am really ashamed of my ignorance about the world. I am sure this class will help me to understand the world more.

I continue to be a member of International Club, Japan Club, Focus, and Voice of Praise (Gospel Choir) this fall term. However, this year is a little bit different, because I became an officer of International Club. So this year I plan the activities with other officers for the new exchange, international, and North Central College students considering educational aspects for better understanding of the cultures of other countries. This fall term we are planning to go to the state of Wisconsin for the retreat, have a Halloween Party, and have Buddy System and English Table for new international students. It is really fun to give my ideas and discuss for the better decisions and run this big club with reliable other officers. I am really proud of being a publicity officer of this club with amazing friends.

NCC volume8---August

2006-10-08T19:57:00.000-07:00

My study abroad program is from January 3 to November 23. As you know to go to American college from January is very unusual. I chose this period just because I really wanted to go study abroad as soon as possible after my teaching practice. However, I think it was very good choice for me to come to North Central College from winter term. There are a couple reasons.

First, the main reason is that I can spend summer in the United States. During the school term, it is hard to spend time with friends, do extra activities, and go to Chicago or other places because we are always busy for the classes. However, during summer vacation I could do lot of things I could not do during school term. Of course, the weather is very good for traveling and outside is very beautiful with many flowers and green. It is the best time to stay around Chicago.

Second, I can spend more time in the United States. Usually other exchange students from Japan stay at North Central College for 9 months. However, in my case I can stay here almost 11 months, which is very good for me because I can spend as much time as possible in the United States

Third, I could work hard to catch up to other exchange students. When I first met other exchange students, they could speak English much better than me, so I worked hard to catch up with them. Also, they gave me lots of advice from their experiences of fall term, which helped me a lot.

However, of course, there are a lot of disadvantages to coming to North Central from winter. Here are some examples.

First, I came here on January 2 right before the day school starts so I did not have time to do orientations. Other exchange students told me that they had an orientation week before school starts and they did campus tour, library orientation, etc. It was very hard for me not to have an orientation week.

Second, I have to move my dorm twice, which is very hard. Usually exchange students live in the same dorm called Kimmel but my first dorm was different from other students, which was very good to have American friends but sometimes it was very hard. Also, I had to move to another dorm for summer and I have to move to next dorm for fall term. So I had to look for new roommate by myself. In North Central College, students can choose their next dorms and rooms, but to get better room we need a lot of credits. Fortunately, one of my friend suggested to stay with her next year so I could find my roommate, but it was hard for us to get good room because I had only 9 credit which is less than freshman. I will go back to Japan after fall term so my future roommate will have new roommate randomly from winter term so I feel sorry about this.

Third, it was hard to register classes. In North Central College, students register their classes in May for their next whole year. So when I registered my classes, some classes were already closed. Fortunately, I could get in the classes I wanted to take but I was always on waitlist and it made me so nervous.

For me the advantages of summer outweigh the disadvantages, but it depends on our goal of study abroad program and our schedule of college. I hope my opinion can help future exchange students from Iwate.

NCC volume7---July Photos

2006-07-18T12:28:00.000-07:00

1. Indiana Soldier & Sailer's Monument
2. Cubs Game --- we lost.... super sad
3. Relay for life --- i walked all night
4. NCC graduation --- i wanna wear gown!!!
5. Universitry of Notre Dame（in IN) --- the building was gold☆

NCC volume6---June

2006-07-18T12:13:00.000-07:00

North Central College
Volume 6 --- July

　 Our summer vacation is from the beginning of the June to the beginning of the September. Almost all of the students went back to their houses right after the finals for part time jobs, so only a few students who are taking summer classes are here at North Central. At first, I was thinking about working on campus, but I did not get a job, because I thought I should do lots of things that I can do only in the United States during the summer. Basically, I did four things from the beginning of summer until now.
First, I went to Chicago to look around the city and went to famous places: Navy Pier, Lincoln Park, Six Flags, The Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Science and Industry, Cubs games, The University of Chicago, etc. During school terms I hardly could go to Chicago because I had lots of homework to do, so even if I live close to Chicago I did not know about Chicago well. Especially during summer there are lots of events or festivals in the city so I could enjoy walking around and know about Chicago.
Second, I went on a trip to the states of Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan to visit my friends and stay with them. I used Amtrak and bus to get there and stayed in their homes with their families. It was a great opportunity to see other states and try different food or see famous places. Especially in Indiana I met Amish people and tried their food and saw their houses; it was a great experience.
Third, I babysat a couple of times for people who were introduced to me by my host mother and my friends. Once, before the kid went to bed she asked me to read a book. So I read the book for her and she said, “Your English is different,” and she read the book for me. It was my best memory. I did not have lots of opportunities to spend time with little kids before especially foreign kids, so it was very good time.
Forth, I joined Camp Tawanchi, which is a camp for elementary school students, and I taught about Japan to 30 students for 2 hours. I told the basic information of Japan, taught how to use chopsticks and make paper cranes, and made some Japanese foods. They asked me lots of questions about Japan and they became interested in Japan so I think it worked very well.
At first I was really worried about the summer because I was the only exchange student who stayed here during summer and the International Office closed. I did not know what I could do and I thought I would be bored. However, through the help of my friends I have really enjoyed my summer. Now I am in Indiana. I will visit Canada soon with my friend by car. She is a Japanese major and she is really interested in going to Iwate. I wrote that many Japanese major students prefer to go to Tokyo or Kyoto and they are not interested in Iwate. But she said to me, “I want to see real Japan not like a big city like Tokyo or Osaka”. I was very happy to hear that. After I come back to Iwate, I hope I can do something for the students who come from North Central as they did for me and I hope many students are interested in Iwate.

NCC volume6---June Photos

2006-06-25T22:06:00.000-07:00

NCC volume5---May

2006-05-22T13:37:00.000-07:00

North Central College
Volume 5 --- May

１　World Relief
Every year more than 7,000 refugees come to the United States to escape from war, torture and persecution. They have no food, money, job, or friends, they may not be able to speak English; they have absolutely nothing. As you can imagine, this is a huge burden on the refugees.
The World Relief center located in Aurora, it works work with churches, individuals, and community groups in providing a range of services to the refugees and immigrants living in Dupage or Kane County. According to the website, World Relief provides the refugees with many services such as self sufficiency aid in their transition from their country to the U.S., a child and youth project helping the family and children cope with their new life, a human service liaison, meaning helping them attain access to public benefits, counseling, adequate education in order to learn how to be more self efficient, citizenship and immigrant services, transitional housing, and helping the families build a relationship with volunteers and churches. Each service helps these immigrants and refugees in adjusting to their new life.
I am working with the refugee K-3 kids after school from 3:15 P.M to 5:15 P.M at Davis Church located in Aurora every Monday. Basically I am helping with their homework, singing English songs, and playing word games to help their development of English.
Helping the refugees not only makes me a better person, but I also get the chance to be there and see how the children live their life. It gives me an idea of what they went through to be here today with us in the United States. I hope that in the near future more volunteers take time to help the refugee kids and their family as well for the better life here. A little help can make a difference in the refugee’s life. In Japan we do not have opportunities to know about these problems well, so I hope I can inform my friends. Definitely, I will continue this volunteer work until I go back to Japan.

２　First Exchange student from North Central
Hey! All of members of the English department!! Rejoice at the GOOD news!!! The first exchange student from North Central College is coming to our University!!!! (Yeeeeeh☆)

Name: Amy Butcher
Sex: Female
Age: 21
Grade: Junior
Major: Japanese
Minor: East Asian Study
Interests: Viola, Gospel, IWATE
Favorite movies:Serenity, LOTR, Donnie Darko, Love Actually, Harry Potter, The Dark Crystal, Ladyhawke, UHF, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Moulin Rouge, Watership Down
Favorite books:Dune, LOTR, The Dark is Rising Sequence, Ender's Game, Harry Potter, The Things They Carried, The Once and Future King

☆★Short Questionnaire★☆
Q1. How long are you studying Japanese?
I am studying Japanese 2 years.
Q2. Why were you interested in Japan?
I like challenging hard things. Japanese is totally different from English so I wanted to try. Also I am interested in Japanese culture.
Q3. What do you want to do in Iwate?
I want to see 石割桜.
I want to try わんこそば.
I want to make many friends in Iwate.
I want to try various kinds of fish. I love Sushi!
Q4. Do you have any concerns?
I want to make many friends in Iwate University, but I cannot speak Japanese well. So I am worrying about whether I can make friends or not. Also I want to do some kind of job, like teaching English to little kids or something like that.

☆★Message from Amy★☆
はじめまして。私はブッチャー・エミーです。三年生です。せんこうは日本語と東アジア学です。私のしゅみはビオラをひくことと、歌をうたうことです。私はドッググルーマーです。５年やっています。早く日本に行きたいです。楽しみです。友達をたくさんつくるぞー。やったー。

This is a GREAT opportunity for us to practice English with a native English speaker, make an American friend, and share Japanese culture to foreigner. I am so excited to meet her in Iwate University. She is a Great and Sweet girl and she wishes to make many friends in Iwate! I want her to make many Japanese friends and enjoy feeling cultural differences as I am doing here.

NCC volume5---May Photos

2006-05-01T16:05:00.000-07:00

World Relief

NCC volume4---April

2006-04-27T09:48:00.000-07:00

North Central College
Volume 4 --- April

１　Spring Class
This term I am taking 4 classes: Speech Communication, English as a Second Language, Group Process, and Oriental Brush Painting. I want to tell you about what I am learning in Speech Communication and Group Process.
First, is Speech communication. I am studying about public speaking skills that include research, preparation, and evaluation of speeches. According to the syllabus, this course will:
・ Help students become more effective oral communicators;
・ Increase the student’s understanding of speech communication as a means of influencing human behavior;
・ Aid the student in reacting logically and spontaneously to different types of communication behavior;
・ Enhance the student’s listening skills through study and application of critical listening theories;
・ Help the student understand and practice theories of selecting, analyzing, evaluating, organizing, developing and communicating information, evidence and points of view;
・ Prepare the student to be an ethical communicator.
We have 2 exams, and 5 presentations (Impromptu, Narrative, Informative, Persuasive, and Special Occasion). We also need to turn in the outlines of presentations, a critique, and a listening assignment. Last week I gave a Narrative speech for 7 minutes and I spoke about the cultural differences I experienced on my first day in the United States. I think I used my time well and developed my characters and the plot of the story. Also the speech had strong entertainment value. But my reflection is that there was no building of tension, because all examples were of equal weight. Next week I have an Informative speech, and I am thinking to talk about Japanese food. I want to select materials carefully and use them correctly.
Next is Group Process. This class introduces me to the formal study of group process, taking communication as the central variable. According to the syllabus, as a result of this course:
・ You should be able to identify the most important communication exchanges in a group.
・ You should be able to define the concepts and terms that help explain these exchanges.
・ You should be able to move beyond the textbook analysis to make informed, appropriate and responsible decisions about participating in group.
We have ample opportunity to develop group discussion and decision making skills through interactive exercises and projects like group exam, group paper, group service project and a “fishbowl” activity. Today I had a group exam, which consisted of multiple choice and true or false questions. We met many times to prepare for this exam so it was not so bad. As a group service project, we are going to join World Relief which is the organization to assist refugees, who have fled war, torture, and persecution. Every Monday we will work as after school homework club tutors and help children from K-3 study English and other subjects. Also we are thinking to gather old, unwanted picture books and sell them for donation.
I am enjoying my classes a lot because I am really interested in the classes. In winter term it was hard for me to read textbooks and follow the classes but I am used to studying hard and my English improved so it is not a torment any more. I hope I can do well on my Informative Speech next week.

２ International Club
In April we have three international club events: Pancakes around the World, Six Flags and a Canoe Trip.
We had Pancakes around the World on April 9 at a Methodist church. The pancakes ranged from Europe (Russia, Sweden), Asia (Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, India) and America (USA, Colombia, Mexico). All pancakes were served with special jams, syrups, and fruit salad for only 5 dollars. All proceeds benefit the international scholarships at North Central College. We made Okonomi-yaki without seafood or meat for vegetarian. Okonomi-yaki was totally different from other country’s pancakes so it was very popular. Of course, we used Okahuku-souce and mayonnaise.
Six flags is a theme park which is located in the north-west part of Illinois State. We are looking forward to going to Six Flags and the Canoe Trip.

NCC volume4---April Photos

2006-04-02T14:01:00.000-07:00

I want to tell you guys about how wouderful city Chicago is.
Chicago is a sister city of Osaka, and the population of the city is 2,900,000(The population of Osaka is 2,600,000). And Chicago is three times larger than Osaka.
Chicago is famous for skyscrapers. The highest tower is Sease Tower(You can see it on the right side of this picture). The height is 443m, and it is the third highest building in the world and the highest building in the United States. There are 110 floors and 12000 pople is working in the tower! The third highest building of Chicago is John Hancock Center. I went to there this week. And I took this picture from the top floor (floor 100) of this building! The night view was AWESOME!
I told you that Chicago is famous for skyscrapers. There are first, third, and fourth highest builings of United States in Chicago:D And the desigh of the buildings are so unique.
Chicago is also famouse for museums. I hope I can tell you about the museums soon.

NCC volume3---March

2006-03-30T18:03:00.001-08:00

North Central College
Volume 3 --- March

１　Host Family
In the end of January I asked the International student adviser to find my host family, because I wanted to spend weekends and breaks with an American family. She found a nice host family for me. My host mother’s name is Rose. She is a nice woman and she is like my real mother. We usually meet twice a week. We do various things: cooking, going shopping, practicing English pronunciation, going to the church, etc. She taught me lots of things and helped me a lot. Through my host mother I made many friends of other generations. These days she asked me to do babysitting in her friend’s house. At first I hesitated because I cannot speak English well and I had never done it before. But she recommended it me because she thought that babysitting would be a nice experience for me and I can learn about American family life. The children were 3 and 8 years old girls. I made dinner for them, played with toys, and read stories before they went to bed. It was a nice experiment for me. Like this babysitting experience, after I met her I could do many things that I cannot do only staying on campus and hanging out with my friends. I hope I can tell them about Japanese culture too. I took lots of Japanese traditional stuff from Japan like Origami, Yukata and picture books. Next week I am going to make Sukiyaki for them. I hope I can tell them about the beauty of my country Japan.

２ Spring Break
　My spring break was awesome. I did lots of things. I visited my friends’ house in Ohio, and Indiana. I stayed at my host family’s house and had a home party and babysitting. I visited the famous places of Chicago and watched a Broadway musical called “Wicked”. The break was only 10 days, but it was full break for me. Many other International students spent their break in various ways. One of my Korean friend visited San Francisco, and an other Taiwanese friend visited New York. After the spring break we talked about Naperville where our campus is located. Naperville is very high class society so we think we were looking at the only good part of United States. But when we went to other parts of United States, some places were totally different from Naperville. There were many poor people or gangs and it was dangerous. We were amazed to see these situations and we realized how safe Naperville is. I hope I can see many things and meet many people during my stay in United States.

３　Spring Term
In winter term I took Education, Ceramics, and ESL. This term I am going to take ESL, Speech, Group Process, and Oriental Brush Painting. Winter term was my first term, but I am used to the life so this term I am going to take four classes to challenge myself. I really wanted to take Education classes but all of classes require field work and the content is too specific about the American Education System. Last term I took an education class, general part was very useful for me, but some part like making Portfolio for teacher’s certification I could not attend the activity. And I thought I should improve my English before I take 200 level classes. I want to try educational classes next fall term again.
To take American Educational Class, I realized the different points. At the beginning of the class we learned how to deal with cultural diversity and language diversity. In Japan we have never been told about those kinds of things. I thought this aspect is so American apple pie.

４　I think …
I think I do not know everything about Japan. When I take part in Japanese table I am asked about Japanese culture every time. They asked me why Japanese people say we do not have religion. They asked me the population and area of Iwate, Morioka, and Japan. They asked me the origin of Japanese traditional events like Setsubun, and Hinamatsuri. Every time I cannot give exact answers. When I asked about the population of Chicago or the origin of St. Patrick’s Day, etc to my friends almost all of students can answer. I realized how I do not know about my own country and culture.

NCC volume3---March Photos

2006-03-30T17:45:00.000-08:00

Birthday Party!!
Today is my roommate's 20th B-Day!! Woooo :D We decorated our room and went dinner :)

NCC volume3---March Photos

2006-03-28T20:44:00.000-08:00

My Host Mother
She is sooooo KIND and NICE!!! She is like my real mother :) I meet her twice a week! We cook together, we go shopping, we go to the church, we do lots of things!!

NCC volume3---March Photos

2006-03-28T20:31:00.000-08:00

Spring Break
I visited one of my friend's house during spring break. He is a Japanese major and he went to Kyoto as an exchage student. So he can spenk Japanese very well. He learned 能 and 茶道 in Japan!! I watched his 能, it was amazing. (I could not believe!!!) He knows about Japan much more than me :) A couple days ago I was asked about Japanese religion, but I could not answer at all. I need to know about Japan more...
Why do Japanese say, "I don't have religion" when they are asked about their religion???

NCC volume3---March Photos

2006-03-03T20:01:00.000-08:00

Farewell Party
One of my Japanese friend is going back to Japan for graduation ceremony... So we did the Farewell Party for her!! We rented a party room of Chicago style pizza restaurant! And we ate awesome pizza and did games like Big Booty and Mafia!! It was so amazing time :D
I will miss her a lot...

NCC volume2---February Photos

2006-02-22T16:13:00.000-08:00

CHICAGO(>_<)

International Festival☆
I tought how to make paper cranes and did acchimuite-hoi.

I made a huge paper crane with International club members!!!

International club members!!!

My best friends I have met here at North Central.

NCC volume2---February

2006-02-06T21:58:00.000-08:00

North Central College
Volume 2 --- February

１　Dorm
There are 11 dorms on campus.
・ Kimmel Hall
- Many International students are living in this dorm.
- There are private showers, toilets, and kitchens.
・ Peter & Paul Hall
- I am living here. There are no international students, but I can spend time with American students and can make many friends, so I think it is good for me to live here.
・ Student village
- Many Japanese students are living in this dorm.
・ Seager Hall
・ Rall Hall
・ Geiger Hall
・ Townhomes
・ Seybert Hall
・ Ptterson Hall
・ Ward Hall
・ Blue House
※ Room Features:
Air-Conditioning, TV, Network/Internet connections, twin bed, desks, chairs, dressers, window blinds, room phone, sink. Many international students ask roommates to share a fridge, microwave oven, DVD player, etc. And we can also borrow bath & hand towels, sheets, pillow, bedclothes, etc, from the International Office.
※ Building Amenities:
Washers and dryers

I am living in Peter & Paul Hall with my roommate Katie who is really nice, kind and funny. We are all good friends, so we often plan birthday parties, watch movies, and go outside to eat Japanese and Chinese food. I really like spending time with my friends. We are planning to do volunteer work together and send valentine’s cards to soldiers who are going to Iraq.
But sometimes it is difficult to live with American girls. For example, they are all night owls, so they make noise at midnight. I have to get up early for a morning class, so they annoy me. At first I hesitated to ask them to be quiet, and endured every night. But this week I tried to ask them to keep silent after 12. As a result, they acceded to my request willingly. They speak their mind plainly and also they want friends to speak their mind plainly. At first I felt a loss but now I decided to say my opinion clearly to my friends.

２　Class
Students here speak their mind. When they cannot understand what the teacher is saying, when they have questions, or when they have other ideas, they always speak their mind. So class often consists of heated debate. And they never withdraw until they understand. In Japan it is usual to listen to professor’s lecture silently, but here if we do not say our own opinion, it means we are not interested in the class and we are bored. So every professor gives me a chance to give my opinions in the class. For example, in education class my professor sometimes asks me about the Japanese education system, or lets me compare Japanese and American education system. It was really hard for me at first, but now I am happy because this means that I am a member of the class, and can give my friends other viewpoints of Japan. My next goal is to give my opinions without being asked by professors.
We have a large quantity of homework. This week I have to write two papers, to read hundreds of assignments, to prepare for mimic moral teaching, and I have a quiz. It takes a long time to complete my assignments. This is natural in USA. So the library is always full of students. And they study hard by competing with each other. I realized that our job is studying hard, and I thought their diligence is a good example for us to follow. Last night I talked with my friends about tuition fees. My friends said to me, “In the USA some students work a couple years to save money before they enter the colleges, and some students borrow huge scholarship for college by themselves. So we desire good quality of education, and we study hard.” I thought they are independent from their parents, and by paying money by themselves they can make a strong effort.
I really feel the lack of my computer skills. I have never used Power-Point in my class before, and also teachers seldom use it. Here many teachers use it and we have to use it for our presentation. And also I did not have enough knowledge of how to use excel. So to complete my paper I had to learn how to use Power-Point and excel at first. It is usual to have enough computer skills here, so I am really surprised. I thought I have to acquire the ability to use computers well as soon as possible.
I think the students of USA are a little untidy, because they eat and drink during classes, and they chew gum even if they are doing presentation. I thought Japanese students have virtue, so I am proud of our attitude toward classes.

３ Future Student
One of my friends will go to Iwate University next fall term. She is really excited to go to Iwate. North central College has partnership with some Japanese Colleges: 青山学院大学, 神田外語大学, 京都学院大学. Tokyo and Kyoto are very famous cities so many students like to go to there, but they do not know about Iwate and also they have negative images about Iwate. So many students who are studying Japanese hesitate to go to Iwate. I was really sad when I heard about that. I want them to come to my University and learn many things. I do not know how to express my feelings, but I think we can work actively with international students to make positive images of our University. I hope the exchange student program positively affects many students and we can continue this partnership actively.

NCC volume1---January

2006-02-06T21:51:00.000-08:00

North Central College
Volume 1---January

１　Class
This is my class schedule for winter term.

credit
schedule
Class size
Content

English as a Second Language 2
MWF 12:00-13:10
5
To communicate with native speakers and write papers in correct English, we are doing various things. For example, reading a short story and making a summary, listening to news, doing words game, etc.

Introduction to Education
TTH 8:00-9:50
32
I learned about the tasks and rules of being a teacher, the knowledge teachers need to have, effective teaching, the complexities of teaching, the characteristics of professionalism, etc. Remembering the Illinois Professional teaching Standards is especially challenging.

Ceramic
S 8:00-12:15
12
I learned how to make bowls and vases using a wheel this month. Next month we are going to make ornaments with clay, and go to a museum.

At first, I was taking three classes: English as a second language, Introduction to Education, and Cultural regions of the world. But it was too tough for me to understand what the teachers were saying and hard to complete all of my assignments. I have to read hundreds of textbook pages a day, complete my papers, and prepare for presentations and quizzes… Therefore, I decided to drop geography, and take a ceramics class for fun. To understand the classes, I tried many things.
① Sitting in the front row(in front of teacher’s desk)
② Going to professor’s office after the classes
③ Making friends who are taking the same classes
If I ask help, many people give me advices and help me. Nowadays I can understand my classes and complete my assignments and get good scores, and I also can make time to sleep and talk with my friends. Next term, I want to take more challenging class, like Cultural regions of the world.

２　Daily life
・ Japanese club
Japanese club is organized by students who are studying Japanese. They are doing many activities to learn about Japan and study Japanese every Wednesday.
For example:
- We watched “紅白歌合戦” eating Mochi.
- We did origami and karaoke.
- We went to Japanese supermarket and made Japanese food like Okonomiyaki and Nikujyaga.
- We are going to do Setubun-Party next Wednesday.
I was surprised at the students’ earnest attitude toward studying not only Japanese grammar and vocabulary but also culture. I thought we can also do something to know about foreign countries in our University.

・ International Club
International club is organized by international students. In North Central College, there are many international students from Korea, China, India, England, Mexico, Russia, etc. We had a New Year Party, and now we are planning an international festival. Japanese students are going to wear Yukata, make some Japanese food, and teach Origami and how to write names in Chinese characters. Through this club activity, I can meet various kinds of people, so I can learn many things.
I thought Korean and Chinese students speak English much better than Japanese students. They can communicate with native speaker well and their pronunciation is far better. Someday, I want to ask my friends about how to teach English in their country. They will give me good advice, and I will be able to compare the differences between how to teach and learn English in other Asian countries and Japan. I want to bring these experiences to my teaching.

I read a book　★　December 13 , 2005

2005-12-13T05:55:00.000-08:00

TOEFLテスト　TOEICテストと日本人の英語力

～資格主義から実力主義へ～

I think to master English is important for us because we need to use English as a tool of international communication. So it may be natural for many Japanese to take many kinds of English certificate examination. But when we take an examination, the most important thing is not getting good score, but getting essential communication ability to maintain our own idea through the study for English certificate examination. To be a real good communicator, we have to have our own idea and do persuasive negotiation making the best of our awkward English. Why we study English? Is it to get good score for our promotion or entrance? It can’t be reason. I think it is important to get real ability for our goal　ｂecause what kinds of English we need is depend on our future. Otherwise we will not be able to study English efficiently and actively and be a good communicator. I said to myself why I am studying English. It is not to get capacities, but for my future students. I want to be a glamourous English teacher, and teach many students not only grammar and content of textbook but also culture and custom of many countries because I want students to like English and be positive communicators. For my goal, I have to study English respecting its culture. Thus the first step to start studying English is thinking why I try to study English and what I want to do using English. I learned this idea from this book.

I thought we should do many communication activities to grow up good communicators. Because when I was junior high school student, I hardly did communication activities and I was always studying grammar at English class, so I could not communicate with others. But I found Japanese students should study grammar more in comparison with other Asian Nations. So I changed my idea: it is important to keep the balances of 4 skills.

Cram School　★　October 19, 2005

2005-10-19T20:10:00.000-07:00

Teaching Practice at cram shool

To readers
I was teaching English at cram school to prepare my teaching practice in junior high scnool. I thought there are mamy differeces between cram shool and junior high school. So I want to introduce how to teach English at cram school.

① Greeting
② Home room (10 minutes)
Taka attendance.
We have to give students useful imformation about the entrance examination.
We have to make a good atmosphere to make students study hard.
We check students' homework. If students forgot doing homework or bringing their
notebook, students have to show the teacher the notebook next time.
③ Test 1 (20 minutes)
We do test to check whether they could understand the grammar which they learned last week or not every week. (5~10 questions, from homework and workbook) Teacher asks each students how many questions you could solve. (80％～：pass)
④ Explain new material (20 minutes)
Writing the points of new material, we explain the grammar.(Students have to take notes quickly. Students speak nothing.)
⑤ Laboratory (40 minutes)
Every student have workbook, and students have to solve the question inside stated time. We check how students did in the labotatory.
⑥ Test 2 (30 minutes)
We do test to check whether they could master the new grammar or not. (15~20 questions, from workbook, 80%~:pass)
⑦ Greeting

The differences between junior high school's English class and cram school's.
① Don't use English in the classroom. (Explain in Japanese)
② Deductive instruction ＞ Inductive instruction
③ Presentation⇒Practice⇒（×Production）
④ Writing!! (×Speaking, Reading, Listening)
⑤ Goal: To take good score. (×To communicate with foreigners in English)
⑥ Only teachers are speaking.
⑦ Make a point of grammars.
⑧ Don't do any activities.

There were many differences between junior high school's English class and cram school's. Today, many students go to cram school after school or weekend, and they are studying like this. I have never gone to cram shool, so I can not understand the feelings of students. But many students say that we will not be able to pass the entrance examination if we come to cram school and study grammars. The idea of students confused me. Gami (V)o￥o(V)

Student Teaching　★　October 6 , 2005

2005-10-06T22:26:00.000-07:00

★☆ Teaching Practice ☆★

To readers
This is my analysis of Unit 4&5 in New Horizon English Course 3 (U4&5 in NH3, for short) and my opinion about teaching English at junior high school. They are based on both my success and failure during my teaching practice this summer, so I’m very happy if I receive any comment.
（ I realizad a lack in my knowledge of English and imformation about other countries and my country. Especially, my pronounciation of English is greatly different from that of native speakers. So I thought that I should learn not only teaching methods and English grammar, but also phonetics and intercultural communication more during university students. I want to try my best and improve my speaking and listening skills of English and know about foreign countries more and see the beauty of my country, Japan!! (V)o￥o(V)　）

1. successful points
① Classroom English
I almost used English in my class. Because I thought that it is absurd to use Japanese when students try to study English, and I wanted to give them as many changes as possible to listen to English. Classroom English is very useful in teaching English, and I thought it makes good atmosphere of English classroom and encourages the students to speak English.
I thought that even if students could not understand our classroom English, we had better not use Japanese to explain the words. Because students have power to guess the words which they could not understand. So we have to let students use their imagination and ability to guess.
ex)
・Demonstrate-------------- U4 p.46 "raise"
・Use the real thing--------- U4 p.44 "fan"
・Draw or Sketch----------- U4 p.51 "line"
・Antonyms------------------ U4 p.53 "expensive" ⇔ cheap
・Synonyms------------------ U4 p.46 "loud" ≒ big
・Verbal explanation------- U4 p.47 "thirsty" → If you want something to eat, you are hungry. If you want something to drink, you are thirsty.

② Study about sound
Students have few chances to study about sound in this textbook. So I tried to let them study about sound each time when we checked the new words.
ex)
U4 p.44 fan-fun
U4 p.46 raise-rise
U4 p.47 thirsty [th] ... etc

③ A lot of care to students' activity
There were many kind of students in the classroom. So there were some pairs who could not do their activity well( because they hated each other) in each class. When I noticed the trouble, I stopped doing pair activity and changed group activity in the next class. But to do group activity was worse than pair activity, because the chances to speak English decreased by doing group activity. So next class, I went to the pair and did the activity with them. As a result, they could do pair activity with me. If I did not notice this situation, they won't do the activity during my class. I thought that it was important to see students' activity carefully.

④ Warm-up
I did criss-cross for warm-up before presenting the new material. Students enjoyed this game, and their speaking and listening skills were improved day by day. I gave them questions from textbook(new words, grammar, dialog). So Students were watching their textbook for preparing this game before the class. I thought that to make good atmosphere of class is very important. After this game, the atmosphere of my class was wonderful. So I could teach smoothly.

⑤ P.P.P
Studnts study English to use English, so the goal of the class is not to master the grammar or to practice hard. The goal of the English class is to use the new material by themselves. That is why, it is important for us to make the lesson plan like "Presentation→Practice→Production", and make time to produce.
ex)
U5 p.55 ”間接疑問文(an indirect question)”
Goal: To talk with your partner using indirect questions and know about your partner.

⑥ Gather students' worksheet.
I gathered students’ worksheet every day to check･･･
・spell(There were many mistakes which students could not notice.)
・Who could understand? Who could not understand?
・What was difficult[easy] for them?
・What kind of mistakes did they make?
I could notice many things from students’ worksheet. So I could modify and devise my lesson plan for next class, and make better one.

2. Bad points(changes for the better)
① Deductive instruction ＜ Inductive instruction
I explained students new material in Japanese using grammatical language on the blackboard. The students who like English could understand and satisfied my teaching, but this explanation is maybe hard for some students who hate English. I should give students more examples concluding the new material, and let them notice and guess about the new material without boring explanation. And all students may study it naturally.

② evaluation words
My pet phrase was “OK”. One of an English teacher advised me that you should make the differences between ”Are you OK?” and “That’s OK” , and use more evaluation words like “good, excellent, good job, great “. So I made list of evaluation words in my mind and tried to use these words. ( A: Excellent! , B: Great! , C: Good job! , D: Good! , E: OK! )

③ worksheet
I almost used English in my class, but I made work sheet in Japanese.
ex) 氏名、組、番、学習日
I could put many words into English.

④ Make a clear goal
At first my plan was too ambitious because I wanted to mix writing, speaking, listening and reading. So every activity did not work well. I thought that it is difficult to use four skills only 50 minutes, and I understood that to focus and make clear goal is very important to make a effective activity.

I thought that the most important things is to communicate with students and know them. If we counld not make good relationship, we will not be able to make good classes. I do not know what kind of teacher is a good teacher, but I believe that the teacher who tries to understand students is a good teacher.

Assignment 12　★　July 3 , 2005

2005-07-03T13:15:00.000-07:00

Reflection on Team Y's lesson
Good points of their resson
・ They could exploit the textbook well . Their introduction and short play based on the dialogue of the textbook . I found that it is possible for us to do lessons without making many handouts or charts . Many of groups were forgetting to exploit the textbook , and we tried to make something new , so we took much time to prepare the class . We learned many points of teaching grammer , so we tended to forget to use textbook effectively . Next time , I want to try to use the textbook more usefully .
・ Their warm up was very good !! Team A's lesson and Team Y's lesson were related , so it was important to confirm his knowledge and prepare before teaching the new materials . What is more , they could imply the content of their lesson in their introduction , so the introduction had aspects of both confirmnation and notice . ・ When they read the dialogue of textbook , they tried to use Backward Build-up Drill . It is difficult to read for beginners to read a long line of the dialogue , so I thought this method was effective .
The points they might try doing differently in the future
・ I thought they should take the time to practice new words and dialogue . It is hard for beginner to remember how to pronounce and the meaning of the words within such a short time .
・ He confused the difference between he and she when he did check test . Teachers taught the meaning of new word in Japanese , so we thought that he could understand the meaning , but he could not understand the difference . I thought it is important to confirm beginner's understanding . They might try using students as examples or talking about familiar topics .
ex) He is my father . He is Mr. Koizumi .
She is my mother . She is Ms . Aiko .
She is Yuka / Yukiko . (As point girls)
He is Taku / kyounowanko . (As point boys)

Assignment 11　★　July 2 , 2005

2005-07-02T14:00:00.000-07:00

Reflection on Team KMKM's lesson
☆Greeting☆
☆Introduction☆
・ We tried to say something that students can understand to warm up , using map , pictures , name cards . But introduction is difficult for him . (?) I realized that he could understand our name and home , but he could hardly undertand about age . However , I think we could get student's interest about new material , and use student's imagination and ability to guess the material .
☆Goal☆
・ We spoke today's goal too quickly . Maybe he could hardly understand what he is going to learn today . We should speak more slowly and comfirm his understanding .
・ I thought that our goal was too difficult for beginners to get over . We might demand too many things . He is real beginner of English , so to ask name and age and telephone number mey be really diffiult for him . We should think from bigginer's point of view .
☆Practice(Number)☆
・ We should practice more slowly , and we should take more time to practice with his partner or group . He could say with other students , but he could not say numbers by himself . It took time to remember how to say numbers . We should wait until he can remember , otherwise he will be unable to do interview smoothy .
☆Short play☆
・ When we did short play , we spoke too quickly . So I thought it was hard for him to understand the content of our short play . We should repeat the dialogue . Our good points of short play are to use our body , change our voice , use real character . And we did same pattern of conversation three times . Maybe junior high school students will be interested in this short play .
☆Practice(Key words)
・ We should practice more . We should practice with not only all class members but also his partner or group . He needed more time to master and remember the thress sentences .
☆Interview☆
・ We tried to mix writing , apeaking , reading , listening , I thought our idea of interview was very good . Because this activity has aspects of both real and drill , and students could produce language with meaning and other members could attend to the message . But we should take more time to do this activity , because he could not ask all of his group members .
☆Check test☆
・We also tried to mix four skills . Check tesk was balanced well . When we check the answer , we should do repetitions and confirm their knowledge . We could celebrate one of our member's birthday !! Congratulation !!!
☆Greeting☆

I remembered my first Spanish lesson . I was nervous at first , because I hardly understood what thacher was speaking . I had both hopes and fears , but fears were much bigger than hopes . I thought he will have same feeling with me . The hurdle which we have to get over to learn something new is very very high , it is beyond our expectations . I really remembered and the feeling of students who try to study somethig new . I want to think about the feeling of beginner , and plan the lesson next time .

Assignment 10　★　June 26 , 2005

2005-06-26T19:32:00.000-07:00

Key Points for Teaching Grammar
Which of the Key Points for teaching grammar, ideas for introducing new grammar, ideas for practicing new grammar, and ideas for communicative activities were useful and why you thought so.
★Teaching new grammar
☆I thought to encourade students to see patterns is very important and helpful . I am teaching at cram school and practiced irregular verb like this method , but there were not pattens in my practice . So students could not notice the patterns and tried to learn it by heart . It was hard for students to remember irregular verb and many of students hated to remember . If I practice irregular past which is devided into same group , students will be able to remember more easily . So I thought to make patterns is very important .
★Introducing and Practicing new grammar
☆when we introduce new material , I think getting students' interest toward new material is one of the most important things . So I like to use real things (ex. pictures) and real imformation and to do quizzes base on fact . To use real things and real imformation help stuents to undertand new materials . And these idea will be able to sustain interest of students . What is more , we will be able to let students use their imagination and ability to guess by useing these ways .
★Communication activity
☆I think that information gap makes students more active . It is important for teachers to give as many chances to use English as possible to their students . I especially like to do Interview . Because this activity mixes writing , speaking , and listening . And this activity has aspects of both drill and real . What is more , students can talk about familiar topics , and they will be able to test their knowledge and help each other . Of course , I liked to do Skit and Karuta .

Which ideas you did not think were useful and why you thought so?
★Teaching new grammar
☆I like to do Hangman and Who am I , but these games took much time per question and only a few of students could attend the game . So these games may be bored junior high school students . We should devise how to do these games . For example , teachers make groups and let each groups compete .
★Introducing an practicing new grammar
☆I think many of students like to do movement , but there are not only positive and cheerful students but also negative and quiet students in the classes . When I attended "Reader's theater" , one of real junior high school teacher told us that there are students who do not speak in the class . There are many kinds of students , and I think to use this way is very difficult for teachers . I want to try to use this way , but I want to pay attention to students' character at first .

Assignment 9　★　June 20 , 2005

2005-06-20T17:00:00.000-07:00

Reflection on Team A's lesson
Good points of their resson
☆First , they confirmed what Mr.Neyim learned in the last class★They could do warm up before teach new materials★Teachers introduced themselves saying something that Mr.Neyim can understand★What is more , they asked Mr.Neyim to do introduction , and they found his mintakes and they could correct it★I thought their warm up was very good idea★
☆Their class was well balanced . They tried to mix reading , listening , writing and speaking .
☆Teachers used student's imagination and ability to guess to help him understand the materials . After the short play , one of teacher said to Mr.Neyim , "Can you understand the meaning of This is ~, That is~." I thought this question was very good .

The points they might try doing differently in the future .
☆Practice should have aspects of both drill and real . I thought the practice was monotonous . The practice was communication activity(コミュニケーション活動) , so I thought they should also do task activity(タスク活動) to understand practical English usage .
ex) Teachers give students a list of new words which is in the class .
①Pair work
Student A : What is this ?
Student B : This is desk .
Student B : What is that ?
Student A : That is blackbord .
②Class work
Teacher : Student A , what is this ?
Student A : This is TV .
All students : This is TV .
☆I thought that they hasitated to act out and say something to students . I think it is natural for us to be shy , but If I should be a student , I would feel nervous . I always look at my friends face before I say something . I thought this is bad habit of us . I want to try to speak with confidence . If teachers hesitated to speak , students also hesitated to speak . I wann to improve my bad habit .

Their warm-up impressed me !! It was very natural . They gave Nr.Neyim many chances to use English , and they confirmes his understanding . They tought him kindly . They were very good teachers . (V)o￥o(V)

Assignment 8　★　June 19 , 2005

2005-06-19T00:15:00.000-07:00

Reflection on DHC2's lesson
Good points of their resson
☆When we did pronounciation practice , first teachers and students pronounced together , then teachers called on rows , then called on individual students . Teachers did not repeat with the students and their instruction was decisive . Because they spoke their instructuin at least two times , and they spoke slowly and clearly . So it was easy for students to understand what we should do .
☆They used many visuals , for example name card , pictures and so on . It was useful for biginners to understand the lesson .
☆Before students do practice or game , teachers gave a demonstration . So beginner students understand what they do without explaining in English . Seeing is believeing !!
☆Their short play was very very good !! They spoke slowly and manage to express what they were speaking by gestures .

The points they might try doing differently in the future .
☆When we did practice , some of students had same two cards .
☆When we did pronounciation practice , we pronounced louder voice , because we enjoyed the class very much . But maybe teachers could not listen her voice . This is my reflection . Next time I try to pronounce in a whisper . I am sorry (>_<)
☆When we did pronounciation practice , I felt dull because the repetition was monotonous .
☆When we did Karuta , we repeated "Do you like soccer? Yes , I do ." But there are another answer . we did not say "No , I don't ." All of students do not have same ideas , so teacher should ask individual atudents to answer the question .
ex) Teacher : Do you like soccer ?
Students : Do you like soccer ?
Teacher : Student A .
Student A : Yes , I do .
Teacher : Student B .
Student B : No , I don't .
☆They should design a activity to check their comprehension of today's lesson .

I thought their lesson was very very great !! All of teachers were powerful , so we could study cheerfully . I thought it was important for teachers to do their class vigorously . I could learn many things from their powerful class . Thank you (V)o￥o(V)

Assignment 7　★　June 4 , 2005

2005-06-04T23:18:00.000-07:00

Reflection on Team T 's lesson
What I Particularly Liked about Team T's Lesson
☆ First teachers and students pronounced together , then teachers called on rows , then called on individual students . Teachers did not repeat with the students and their instruction was decisive . So it was easy for students to understand what we should do .　
☆ Teachers used not only English but also Japanese . It was kind of students to use Japanese , because he was a real beginner of English . If I were them , I might use only english and I would bother him . The idea was very good !
☆ When teachers asked a question of him , he could not answer the question . So they showed him the play again . I thought this is good .
☆ Ｔeachers moved around the class room , and they watched students carefully . And if he had a trouble , they taught him till he can understand .

Some Suggestions for an Even Better Lesson
☆ I thought they should take warm up time more , because He was a real beginner of English . Teachers greeted and did introduction of new material , and started to show their short play . I thought he could not stretch his head before today's lesson , and he was nervous . Teachers should introduce theirself or say somethig that students can understand .
☆ Teachers spoke too quickly in their short play . They should speak more slowly using the real thing . (ex: clock)
☆ When we did Fill in the blanks of conclusion , teacher's instruction was not decisive . Teachers made interval (ex: Are you America ?) when they read dialogues , but many of students around me confused the readings . They could devise how to speak dialogues of Fill in the blanks . But they used stress and intonation , so maybe they could cover the confusion .
☆ Teachers used "I'm" without explaining . I think contraction make beginner students confusion .
☆ I thought they could do practice more . They should give him chances to use the new material . I want to do conversation , not only my partner but also other classmates in the class . If he could role play more , he would realize that he master today's new materials .
☆ Teachers could teach about period , comma , question mark , and capital letter together . Probably beginner will puzzle when they do fill in the blanks , if they did not know these materials .
☆ I thought he learnes many things in a day . It was a hard menu for a beginner .
☆ Teachers should use (un)grammatical foreigner talk .
① slower pace , clearly
② simply , shorter sentences
× subordinate clauses
× complex grammatical forms (ex: question tags)
③ regular , basic
× contracted form (ex: I'm)
④ elaborated languages
Teachers sometimes spoke what begginers can not understand . I thought they should use grammatical foreigner talk . Maybe ungrammatical foreigner talk is better than grammatical foreigner talk for beginners .

Team T's class was very marvelous . Their class was powerful , so I felt very happy !! There were many good points , so I could learn a lot of things from their class . I want to make good use of this experience . Thank you　(V)o￥o(V)

Assignment 6　★　May 31 , 2005

2005-05-31T14:56:00.000-07:00

Which of the grammatical elements was easiest for you to learn as a student ?
It was easy for me to understand 受動態 , 現在完了, 関係代名詞 , 進行形 , 未来形 etc ...
There were two reasons why I felt easy .
Fitst , there are definite rules . If I could master the rules , I could solve any questions .
Second , there are only a few rules . I was poor at memorizing .
Which of the grammatical elements was most difficult for you to understand ?
I was poor at preposition . There were four reasons why I did not like preposotion .
First , there are many meaning .
ex) There is a book on the desk . [接触]
I went on foot . [支持]
I spend much money on books . [対照]
I bought this book on Christmas Eve . [時]　　etc...
Second , It is difficult for Japanese to tell .
ex) I stopped at Tokyo 0n my way to Sendai .
We lived in a small village in Scotland .
A lamp hung over the table .
Our plane was flying high above the clouds .
Third , it is hard foｒ me to remember group preposition(群前置詞) .
ex) thanks to ~ / instead of ~ / in front of ~ / in addition to ~
Finally , it is misleading .
ex) 彼女は動物について本を書いた。
She wrote a book about animals . 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　私たちはそのテーマについて論じる。
We discuss (× about) the subject .
私は彼女の家に到着する。
I arrive at her house .
I reach (× at) her house .

I was also poor at article . There are two reasons why I did not like article .
First , there are many meaning .
ex) There was not a cloud in the sky . [ひとつの]
A rose smells sweet . [種類全体]
This watch loses two minutes a day . [～につき]
Second , there are many idioms .
ex) after a while / by the way / on the way

Which of the grammar do you have confidence in teaching ?
I have confidence to teach 受動態 , 現在完了 , 関係代名詞 , 進行形 , 未来形 etc...
Because there are definite rules , so I thought it is easy for me to teach these grammatical elements . Maybe , I will be able to make questions and explain the grammar easily , and students also will be able to understand it and solve the questions easily . These grammatical elements are not confusing , and there are not many exceptions , so it is easy for students to memorize . What is more , teacher will be able to make chances to use these grammatical elememts , because these are often used in daily conversation .

Which grammar do you think will be difficult for you in teaching ?
①　Oral phrase (会話表現)
ex) Here you are / Nice to meet you
Because I will not be able to explain the grammer with the grammers which students have already learned . If I said to students , "Please memorize this phrase." , students will memorize this . But maybe there are students who has question . I am teaching English at cram school , and one of my student said to me , "Please tell me the grammatical rules of 'Here you are'."　I was perplexed the question . If he is high school student , I can explain the rule , but he is 7th grade , so he does not learn "Here is[are]~構文" and 倒置 . Then I thought that it is difficult for me to teach oral phrase .
②　Preposition & Article (前置詞＆冠詞)
・ There are many meaning .
・ It is difficult for Japanese to tell .
・ It is hard for me to remember group preposition .
・ It is misleading .
③　Idiom
・ There are many same expression .
ex) show up = turn up = appear = come = arrive
put out A = turn off A = extinguish A
・ There are enormous idions .
・ There are not regular rules .

Assignment 5　★　May 20 , 2005

2005-05-21T01:08:00.000-07:00

☆ Reflection on SNIFFLE's Lesson ☆
Good points of their resson
・ They told students the goal of today's lesson , so Everybody could understood what we learn today .
・ When teachers read the dialogue , they acted out using pictures and charts . Besides teachers repeated important sentences . When they read key words of the sentences , they read it slowly and clearly .
・ I thought that the way of practicing number is very marvelous !! Without notice teachers faded out . (contextualizing→coaching→scaffolding→fading) (At first we repeated after teacher slowly , next we repeated quickly , finally we counted number by ourself .)
・ They did conprehension checks . (They designed activities so students can test their knowledge .)
・ They gave a good account of students , after we prasticed hard .
・ They did gestures .
・ One of teacher wrote imortant grammar on the blackboard .

The points they might try doing differently in the future .
・ They could teach how to pronounce plural"s" and They could give them other examples of it .
(pens[ｚ] , books[s] , buses[iz])
They could teach the grammatical rule of plural .
・ They could teach how to say 58 , 139 etc .
(I think that it is hard for beginner students to understand how to say it .)
・ They could teach new words of "Queen Burgers" menu . And using the menu , students could act out practically to practice how to order menus and how to say number .
＊If teachers let students act out , they should teach "thousand". If students order many memus , students will confuse how to say large number .
・ They could give students chances to practice dialogue with students' partner .

I could enjoy myself ☆　Sniffle's class was devised well !! Junior high school students will be interested in learning English if students took their class (V)o￥o(V) I feel admiration for their wonderful lesson ☆★☆

Assignment 4　★　May 13 , 2005

2005-05-14T02:22:00.000-07:00

Working with Input ☆彡
Which points of this lesson did you agree with or find helpful and why ?

First , I thought it is helpful to reformulate utterances . Because when Mr.Hall said to us , "Reformulations of utterance" , I did not understand what the words meant . But I could understand it by myself , after he said to us , "It is to say one thing in various ways" . It is easy for us to understand the words which was translated into Japanese , but if we understood difficult words by ourselves , we would get pleasure and the pleasure make an impresion of the words .

Second , I agreed with using the real things and pictures or charts . When I took Spanish class , family tree helped me to understand the explanation and new bocabularies . That is , the explanation with pictures is much more intelligible than the explanation without using pictures , because if teachers wrote pictures on blackboard , we could image and understand through the pictures . It is helpful to use not only ears but also eyes .

Third , I also agreed with doing total physical response . Because I could really enjoy myself , and I could understand and remember new bocabularies easier by using my body . Maybe students will feel same things with me . I think if we had more time to do activity of students during classes , we will not bore students . Only teacher's explanation is monotonous , so this activity will stimulate them .

Finally , It is helpful for us to make gestures to teach new vocabularies . When Mr.Hall tought us the names of our body's parts in Spanish , he used this way . For example , when he taught us how to speak shoulder , he touched his shoulder . And when he explained strength , he frowmed and spoke in a deep voice . So I could understand those words which I had never heard before in only Spanish . Thus , it is effective to do gestires to teach students new vocabularies in their second language .

Which points of this lesson did you disagreed or did not find helpful and why ?

First , I disagreed with using students as examples . There are not only positive and cheerful students but also negative and quiet students in the classes . So we should not use this way easily , we should use after we can understant students's character well . Perhaps , we may say the words which the student worries about , and we may hurt their feelings . Whether students are interested in the subject or not depend on it that they like the teacher . So we have to behave carefully , and take full responsibility for this behavior .

Next , I did not find helpful about traditional vocabulary learning . Of course , there are many advantages , for example , we can learn many words once , teachers can teach fast and so on . But there are many disadvantages , too . For taking entrance examination , I had to remember new vocabularies as many as possible in the class . So most of high school English teachers did traditional vocabulary learning . During the class , I could remember many new vocabularies and I felt this is the best way to learn them . But I forget those vocabularies easily day by day , and finally I forget almost of them . So I thought this way can not make long-term memory , because we can not use them practically . It is more efficient to learn them certainly even the number which we can learn is small than to learn many vocabularies uncertainly .

Assignment 3　★　May 3 , 2005

2005-05-03T23:43:00.000-07:00

　My first Spanish class

1) How much of the presentation in Spanish did you understand?
I think I could understand 80 percent of today's mini lesson . It was easy for me to understand Spanish words like Padre , Madre , but it was difficult for me to do handout without looking at blackboard because I could not remember .
What made the input comprehensible and what could have been done to make the language easier to understand?
・ At first teacher drew family tree , so it was easy for us to image and expect .
・ The theme of today's mini lesson was intimate for us , so I was interested in the study . (The words which we learned today are used frequenrly and we have many chances to use these words .)
・ Teacher spoke Spanish slower pace , clearly and simply .
・ Teacher said same things again and again , so I had a time to think and understand .
・ The expression and gestures of teacher helped us to understand Spanish .

2) Did you learn any new words or new grammar in Spanish?
・ Mi means my .
・ Si means yes .
・ No means no .
・ "---a" means female .
・ "---o" means male .
・ Persona means person .
・ Titulo means relationship .
・ Quien means what .

3) How did you feel about being a beginning foreign language student?
I was nervous at first , because I hardly understood what thacher was speaking . I had both hopes and fears , but fears were much bigger than hopes . At first I was not interesting , because I could not understand at all . The hurdle which we have to get over to learn something new is very very high , it is beyond my expectations . I really remembered and understood the feeling of students who try to study somethig new . I realized that begining is the most important terms for students to become interested in the subject . The attitude toward study develops on whether students are interest in the subject in the begining or not . That is to say , we have to grip the attention of students , and we have to interest them in the subjects . It is our duty , and we have to perform the duty . For that purpose we have to choose a theme carefully and research teaching materials closely .
I felt importance of teachers again , and I remembered the feeling of students who study English for the first time . What is more , I felt the difficulty of teaching a foreign language to learners , because first of all we have to fascinate them .

Assignment 2　★　April 27 , 2005

2005-04-27T00:38:00.000-07:00

I want to ask teachers …

① I learned about Inductive Instruction and Deductive Instruction today . Which instruction do you usually do at junior high school ?

② What kind of Grammar Translation Method do you do in your class ?

③ Do you use notions in your class ?

Assignment １　★　April 24 , 2005

2005-04-24T00:15:00.000-07:00

○o。.my ideal teacher.。o○

My favorite English teacher was Mr.Sasaki who is a junior high school English teacher . He was one of the most interesting adults I have ever met . Every student loved him , what is more every teacher and parent respected him . He was a symbol of my junior high school !! This teacher was my favorite because he has a lot of wide and deep knowledge about culture , custom , literature , politics and economy of foreign countries . He has never said same things , his talk was always fresh and it provoked us to study English . His class greatly excited us , because he used everything that he can use , for example , pictures , movies , newspapers , tv , internet , books and so on . We did many group activities in the class . For example , we examined about something we like , and we presented in English . And we made short plays , short stories . We loved to do group activity , because we can get a lot of knowledge which is not wrriten in the textbook and we can help each other . What is more , he gave us a chance to exchange letters with students of foreign countries and to meet foreigners who live in my home town . So we could use our English practically , and we could know how our Engkish skills were improvbed . Many of the students became interesred in English or foreign countries . I am one of them , too !! Therefore I am studying English in the university .

*～● As a teacher ●～*

1 . My greated strength ★３Ｐ★

＊ Punctual … I will be able to manage many documents of students like homework and works .

＊ Patient … I think there are a lot of joy in my school life , but there are also sadness . I will be able to get over the sadness .

＊ Positive …　I like to try new things . I would like to learn from the past , and make something better than before .

2 . My greated weakness ★３Ｓ★

＊Stupid … I will be a teacher like a cram school teacher . I am lacking knowledge and experience , because I hardly read books and newspapers and take part in social activity . So I will be able to teach students English grammer , but I won't be able to make impressive classes like Mr.Sasaki .

＊ Shy … I cannot say my opinion in the presence of people . Of course , it is hard for me to warn others .

＊ Sensitive … I am sensitive about others opinion . I change my opinion easily . I know a saying that "Where there is a will , there is a way " . I have to have my opinion .

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I read a book ★ December 13 , 2005

Cram School ★ October 19, 2005

Student Teaching ★ October 6 , 2005

Assignment 12 ★ July 3 , 2005

Assignment 11 ★ July 2 , 2005

Assignment 10 ★ June 26 , 2005

Assignment 9 ★ June 20 , 2005

Assignment 8 ★ June 19 , 2005

Assignment 7 ★ June 4 , 2005

Assignment 6 ★ May 31 , 2005

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Assignment 4 ★ May 13 , 2005

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Assignment 2 ★ April 27 , 2005

Assignment １ ★ April 24 , 2005

Graduation Thesis ★　May 9, 2007

Graduation Thesis ★　May 9, 2007

Graduation　Paper　☆　April23, 2007

I read a book　★　December 13 , 2005

Cram School　★　October 19, 2005

Student Teaching　★　October 6 , 2005

Assignment 12　★　July 3 , 2005

Assignment 11　★　July 2 , 2005

Assignment 10　★　June 26 , 2005

Assignment 9　★　June 20 , 2005

Assignment 8　★　June 19 , 2005

Assignment 7　★　June 4 , 2005

Assignment 6　★　May 31 , 2005

Assignment 5　★　May 20 , 2005

Assignment 4　★　May 13 , 2005

Assignment 3　★　May 3 , 2005

Assignment 2　★　April 27 , 2005

Assignment １　★　April 24 , 2005