報 告

Further Developments in the Conversation/
Composition Class: Using

Laura L. Kusaka

要旨

共通科目の上級英会話・作文（4年生）ではcontent-based instructionという方法で引き続き担当してきた。普遍性のあるテーマは受講者の支持をうけてきたがにおける戦争，家族，アイデンタ

ティ―というテーマに対して受講者の反応について報告したい。

1. Introduction
For the last three years in the Advanced English Conversation/Composition class, I
have been using as a text

, an autobiographical account of Jean

Wakatsuki Houstonʼs childhood experiences during World War II in U.S. concentration
camps for Japanese Americans. My belief in the eﬀectiveness of a content-based
approach for an advanced-level class came from my previous years of teaching thesame course using Charlie Chaplinʼs autobiography, as reported earlier in this journal.
(Journal of Foreign Language Institute No. 25) Challenging higher-level students withprovocative issues requires them to stretch their skills in especially speaking andwriting, as well as their ability to perform in small group discussions. Relevancy of thematerial determines whether or not the students engage at a level deeper than daily
conversation. I would like to report on how the students responded to the issues raisedin the text as evidenced by both their oral and written output and also discuss the― 89 ―

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No. 11

methodology used.

2. Student ProﬁleStudents who elect this course come from a variety of majors, including German,
Chinese, geography and English literature to name a few. All are at least 4th year
students, with several 5th year students attending as well. Many of the students havestudied abroad for a year as exchange students, so they have had much more exposure
to the larger world. In addition, auditors who are studying to get their teaching license
are also enrolled. Class size is optimum for more personal interaction with less thanten students per semester, due to the fact that 3rd year students now attend a course
separate from this. In any case, all students express a strong desire to have a class inwhich they can actually communicate in English and not merely study about English.
Women students generally outnumber males approximately three to one.

3. Course Description
This class is conducted entirely in English with all materials in English as well. An
example of the course outline is given below. From the beginning, students are
informed that all matters related to the class will be done through the target language.
Aiming to recreate a classroom experience similar to one in north America, I havestudents sit in groups of 3 to 4 per table, with me joining them. An informal, yetacademic atmosphere is aimed for and I have found students to be cooperative in
adapting themselves to this classroom culture. In addition to the actual coursework,
informal conversation time is taken each week to develop a rapport among the group.
A balance of using the four skills, with an emphasis on speaking and listening duringclass time was a major factor during the planning and implementation of this class.
Handout example:
Advanced Conversation/Composition

Wednesday, 3rd Period

This advanced level course is designed to meet the needs of students who want to use
English as a means of communication in both formal and informal situations. The― 90 ―

Further Developments in the Conversation/Composition Class: Using

chosen text will address many issues such as family, war, racism and identity. The
instructor will act as a ʻfacilitatorʼ with the focus on studentsʼ active participation in
discussions.
Spring Semester Schedule April‒July 2003
Date

In Class

Homework

April 9Introductions, explanations

Read Chap. 1

April 23

Discuss Chap. 2

Read Chap. 3

April 16
April 30
May 7

May 14
May 21
May 28June 4

June 11
June 18
June 25
July 2

Discuss Chap. 1

First report due, Discuss Chap. 3
Discuss Chap. 4
Discuss Chap. 5

Read Chap. 2
Read Chap. 4
Read Chap. 5
Read Chap. 6

Discuss Chap. 6

Read Chap. 7

Discuss Chap. 7

Second report due, Discuss Chap. 8
Discuss Chap. 9

Discuss Chap. 10

Read Chap. 8
Read Chap. 9

Read Chap. 10
Read Chap. 11

Discuss Chap.11

Third report due, Individual Interviews

Prepare for interview

REPORTSOne report written in English about a particular chapter from Farewell to Manzanar isrequired each month for a total of three reports. These reports may be submitted byemail. The length should be at least one page (A4). Late reports will be penalized
EVALUATION
The heijoten method will be used to evaluate student performance.
Classroom performance (50%) Written work (30%) Interview (20%)
For the ﬁrst session, in addition to self-introductions, background knowledge
regarding Japanese Americans is solicited. Surprisingly or not, students have exhibited
knowing almost nothing about Japanese Americans but express a curiosity and desire
to learn about who they might be. Equally shaky was their understanding of thereasons for World War II and how it aﬀected civilians in both Japan and the UnitedStates. With such a lack of prior knowledge, how would the students grapple with themain contents of the text, namely, the internment experience of Japanese Americans?

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In addition to my observations, I will let student voices speak for themselves later inthis paper.

4. The Text
The text was chosen for its content, level and enduring appeal over the past 30
years. A forerunner of autobiographic accounts of individual experiences covering theinternment era, Wakatsuki Houstonʼs narrative from the viewpoint of an 8 year-old girlis approachable for most students. It vividly describes life in the camp and how it
aﬀected her and family members. Intended for 6th grade-level readers in the U.S., thebook includes a chronology of pertinent facts related to the history of Japanese. First
published when ethnic studies were gaining legitimacy as an academic study area, thiswork has been used as a text throughout schools in the U.S.
On the average, one chapter per week was assigned as homework, which varies inlength from 5‑10 pages. As an authentic text, the students ﬁnd the vocabularychallenging as well as following the narrative, which occasionally includes ﬂashback
episodes. Another aspect that also stretched their reading comprehension skills was
dialogue passages. On the average, students reported spending at least 2‑3 hours on
the reading assignment each week. It was noticed that preparing for class involved
much underlining and note writing in the margins of the book.

5. Discussion Strategies
Before any discussion could take place, checking the level of reading
comprehension was essential. I often found that the time I originally set aside fordiscussion was taken up with studentsʼ questions about vocabulary and content.
Misunderstanding my directions to come with comments or questions about the text,
most of the questions initially asked did not lead to discussion of the issues, as I had
hoped. However, this process was essential in helping students feel uninhibited about
asking questions.
Auxiliary materials were necessary to augment comprehension, such as maps ofsouthern California, where most of the story took place. Other visual aids such as atime line to chronicle the events mentioned in the story proved to be helpful As the― 92 ―

Further Developments in the Conversation/Composition Class: Using

story involved a large number of characters, namely the family members of the author,a family tree diagram also proved to be eﬀective. In addition, photographs anddocumentary videos depicting actual internment camps could help bring to life the text
which did describe in detail the living conditions of the camps. Students were notaware of such study aids and tended to rely on word-for-word translation of the text
for comprehension. Use of the internet to search for more background information was
not a part of their usual study schemes.
Repeating the same routine each week of eliciting questions, having students
respond to those questions and then asking for issues or themes that were considered
to be of interest, we ﬁnally arrived at the stage where discussion can take place.
Introduction of useful phrases for beginning a discussion, expressing an opinion,eliciting a response from a classmate, disagreeing and changing the subject wasnecessary and for several weeks, blackboard reminders proved to be needed. Initially,
my role as facilitator often encompassed much more and too much reliance was placedon me to keep the discussion going. It wasnʼt until the second semester that I could
witness students taking the initiative to begin and maintain the discussion
autonomously.
Observing the students towards the end of the second semester, noticeablechanges had occurred in their behavior. They displayed good eye contact with eachother and their posture indicated that they were listening intently to their classmates.
They also learned how to rephrase questions or statements when they realized that thelistener could not understand them. Another point they learned was how to restart thediscussion when an overlong silence prevailed. Involving all members of the group in
the discussion by calling on the more quiet students was also another indication of
their improvement in discussion skills.

6. Written Response
Each month, a one-page typed report on one of the chapters discussed was
required which could be submitted electronically. The reports added a dimension to
my understanding of how students were grappling with the text, which was not often
brought out in the discussions. With an emphasis on responding to the text on a
personal level, students strove to make sense of how war impacts the lives of ordinary― 93 ―

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No. 11citizens. They attempted to get into the shoes of the characters and pondered how
and why they acted and felt the way they did. Issues related to the family were thesubject of many reports. One student writing about the father who was arrested andseparated from his family after the Pearl Harbor attack remarked, “. . . he lost thethings which are necessary for father and the power in his family. . . . to be cared byhis family hurt him. My ideal of father is strong and powerful for children, but I think
Mr. Wakatsuki is powerless. And also he is similar to recently powerless fathers.”
Filling the vacuum caused by his fatherʼs absence, another student remarks on how
older children respond to this situation with “And Iʼd like to be like Woody. Woody
hugged his mother. I think, he had a big responsibility, too. He feel scared that he haslots of daily chores to do. The future of his family seem uncertain, but he didnʼt forgetto smile. I want to be that I always wear a smile on my face. Because Iʼd like recoverfrom the tragedies with smile.”
Coming to terms with the injustice of the incarceration from the viewpoint ofyoung men, the debate about how to deal with the loyalty oath which would determine
eligibility to enlist in the U.S. armed forces was a topic which drew many responses.
One student commented on the dilemma faced by nisei young men, “. . . Nisei wasborn in US so they have US citizenship. They donʼt know Japan so much. I think ifthey could speak from the heart, they would not answer Yes nor No. The answer
would be the grey or in-between answer.” Another student, struck by the gravity ofthe decision that nisei men faced remarked, “I donʼt understand patriotic spirit. Afterthe 9.11 terrorism and Iraq war, I felt scary by Americans. I like Japan. I have nocause to hate Japan. But I canʼt have such a patriotic spirit.”Reﬂecting on the impact of the internment experience, one student commented,“And it gave this family a real separateness. They were forced lose not only physicalthings, but also things we canʼt see, for example the relationship of the family, fatherʼspower, freedom, position and trust of Japanese Americans in United States society.”
In another statement, one student remarked, “Probably the suﬀering has continued still
now and most of them donʼt tell about it. Thatʼs very sad history of JapaneseAmericans and also for Japanese, and it could be for the people all over the world too.
So I think we should know this fact.”― 94 ―

Further Developments in the Conversation/Composition Class: Using

7. Spoken Response: Presentations
At the end of the second semester, students chose a theme related to the contentsof the book and were required to do research which was to be shared with classmatesin the form of a presentation. In addition to strict instructions on using note cards andnot reading from a prepared text, emphasis was placed on using visual aids as well.
Each student was asked to prepare at least 10 to 15 minutes of material.
The range of topics reﬂected the diversity of how the students engaged with the
topic matter. One student became particularly interested in how the war eﬀected thelives of people in Japan and chose the Hiroshima bombing as an example of wartime
suﬀering. Graphic photographs of the aftermath of the nuclear bombing were shown
and references to the popular comic

were made. Mention in the text ofthe bombing and how it had a severe impact on many Japanese Americans who had
relatives from the area encouraged this student to locate this incident not as just aJapanese experience but one that deeply inﬂuence those of Japanese ancestry in the
United States.
Another student attempted to draw comparisons between the lifestyle of Japanese
during World War II with that of Japanese Americans in camp. She interviewed older
relatives about their life during the war and commented on the lack of food and otherhardships experienced by most Japanese. In addition, she viewed movie footage taken
at internment camps and made observations on clothing, food and group activities
shown. She pondered on why certain Japanese customs such as mochi-making wereallowed in the camps. Furthermore, she voiced relief at seeing children laughing while
they played on swings and slides.
In a diﬀerent approach, another student reported on the use of racist language in
relation to Japanese and Japanese American in the U.S. media during World War II.
Examples from mainstream magazines and newspapers as well as song titles wereintroduced. Visual images such as distorted caricatures of Japanese facial features
used in cartoons were another example of how negative views towards Japanese andJapanese Americans were created.
Although not enough time was available for extensive research, the students
exhibited great interest in what occurred during World War II on both sides of the
Paciﬁc. Learning about how innocent people suﬀered struck a strong chord within― 95 ―

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No. 11them and they expressed their abhorrence to war.

8. Language Learning Issues
In this class, I attempted to mix a number of learning activities which were bothfamiliar and unknown in order to make the students feel at ease, yet not allow them tofall into behavioral patterns which are counterproductive to gaining communicativecompetence. Using a singular text and requiring a weekly reading assignment was no
doubt what the students are accustomed to. I noticed that they continued to write theJapanese equivalent to unknown words in the margins of the text. As the discussions
were ﬁrst led by the instructor during spring semester and later by the students
themselves in fall semester, I found that the students could take on the responsibility
for maintaining the discussion, having had adequate practice. In regards to themonthly reports, a very wide range of ability in writing a three-paragraph essay wasevident. However, not much class time was spent on writing skills per se as thestudents clearly wanted to concentrate on improving speaking skills.
It was evident that the students had gained conﬁdence as English speakers, which
I judged from their willingness to initiate informal conversation or to take on the roleof discussion leader. They expressed clearly that having read one book in English
without any Japanese translation was also another factor leading to their conﬁdence asEnglish learners. Having learned about historical issues to which they could relate on
their own level was another reason they cited for their satisfaction with the class. I
hope to include a wider variety of supplementary materials in the future which could
lead to presentations based on more extensive research.

Bibliography
Houston, Jean Wakatsuki and James D. Houston.

― 96 ―, Bantam Books, 1973.