リレー・エッセイ「私 の 教育実践」

大学や社会に関する興味深いテーマを取り上げ、多くの方がリレーで参加して様々な考えや意見が集える場にしたいと思います。最初のテーマは「私の教育実践」です。

Guided by Principles:
The Righteous Path

“How can I learn English?” Not a semester
goes by when I am not asked this question atleast a dozen times. I quickly reply with my set
answer, “Study!” I believe students expect me
to share some magical method or technique forsuccessfully learning English. I wish I could givea simple response but the answer to this question is complicated. My philosophy on teaching
and the best way to learn English is not basedon any particular method, but rather on principles that I have developed through teachingexperience, action research, professional development, and self-reflection.
I was greatly influenced by a paper entitled“The postmethod condition: (E)merging strategies for second/foreign language learning”
by Bala Kumaravadivelu (1994). He correctlybelieves that language learning/teaching hasgone beyond relying on any one particularmethod and the rigid rules of implementation.
He asserts that language learning and language
learners are far too complex to employ a single
method.
Kumaravadivelu’s Post Method Condition
has three characteristics. First, it is an alternative
to method rather than an alternative method.
Second, the method recognizes teacher autonomy and expects teachers to reflect, adjust, andinitiate change in the classroom. Third, teachers
should rely on principled pragmatism to shapeclassroom learning. Kumaravadivelu developed
a strategic framework of ten macrostrategies forteachers that allows microstrategies to develop
depending on the teaching challenges and situations. I will explain how I apply some of thesestrategies at Shiga University.

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Karl Hedberg
Shiga University / Lecturer

1. Maximize learning opportunities
Each classroom meeting is a joint learning
event between teachers and students. The production of language discourse in the classroom
is multi-directional, which allows for numerous
and unpredictable learning opportunities. For
example, I begin every class with the question,“What’s new?” This common greeting requires
an unscripted answer.
2. Facilitate negotiated interaction
Learners need to develop clarification, confirmation and comprehension skills. To maximize
these opportunities, I developed a number ofpair and small group work activities and incorporated them into the handouts and textbooks
I wrote for Shiga University students.
3. Minimize perceptual mismatches
Learners must have a clear understandingof the teacher’s intentions and language learning objectives. There could be many potential
sources for the mismatches, including cognitive,communicative, cultural and even attitudinal
misunderstandings amongst students. To avoid
mismatches, I list that day’s objectives on theboard before class.
4. Activate intuitive heuristics
Foreign languages cannot be learned fromexplanation alone. Students need to decipher
grammar rules and linguistic meaning on theirown. One way to do this is through independent extensive reading of graded readers fromthe university library. All of my students are required to do this outside reading.

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Summer / Jun. 2019 / No.420

5. Foster language awareness
One way to foster language awareness is totreat grammar as a network of systems and not
something that needs to be mastered perfectly.
Grammar teaching for the most part is teachercentered with a focus on memorization andrules, while language awareness teaching is student-centered, emphasizing general principles
and understanding.
6. Contextualize linguistic input
It is essential that the language input be contextualized for our students and not be isolated
into fragments. Students would be deprived ofthe linguistic clues that contextualization allows. My textbook employs problem-solving
tasks and role-plays in which the students havemore control of all the language learning elements.
7. Integrate language skills
Listening, speaking, writing, and reading areoften isolated in curricular and material design
without pedagogical justification. The activities
I bring to the classroom utilize all four skills andare integrated as smoothly as possible.
8. Promote learner autonomy
Many second language learners are passive
learners lacking self-initiative. University students must take increased responsibility for
their own learning and it is my responsibility
to remind them of this. I encourage students tofollow their own interests as this is the key toraise motivation to learn English.

9. Raise cultural consciousness
Foreign language and cultural learning go
hand in hand. It is essential to raise the awareness of the culture and values of the target
language. The teacher should not be the only
source of cultural information but should encourage learners to be cultural informants. AtShiga University we are fortunate to have manyexchange students from diverse backgrounds
who contribute to raising cultural consciousness.
10. Ensure Social relevanceThis refers to teachers being aware of the numerous variables that can influence the language
learning environment. Any attempt to make serious and realistic language goals must consider
the societal and educational restrictions thatare in place. Social context affects everythingfrom learners’ motivation to their objectives forlearning English.

Just as each student needs to develop a planof study, teachers also need to experiment withdifferent approaches and styles to maximize
learning opportunities. Teaching is not a static
profession, and I will continue to reflect, adjust,and initiate change as I search for the answer
to "How can I best teach English?" and prepare
students to think about, "How can I best learn
English?"References
⦿ H edberg, K. & Mauser, P. (2008). Living English I & II.

Nagahama, Japan: Keystone English Press.

⦿ K umaravadivelu, B. (1994). The postmethod condition:(E)merg ing strateg ies for second lang uage/foreign
language teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 28(1), 27-48.

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